The last time I played girls hockey was in April and I was cut from the team, but I played girls hockey again in June in York, PA and it was AWESOME. I once again went to PA for the Girls Gold Medal Hockey Camp. Not too sure if you remember, but I was there last August.
This year was different: there were less girls and only two Olympians, Haley Skarupa and Dana Trivigno. I want to start off by saying both Haley and Dana are so cool and down to earth. They inspire me and made me realize that we all will be taking different paths to get to our “goals”. They both are on the USA Olympic team but they both had such different ways of achieving their dreams. They wanted to let all of us know that we are all unique and we will all have a unique path to follow to reach our goals.
So, let me tell you what we did this year at the camp, it was so different than last year but I think that was great. This year, on the ice we did your typical drills, then we did some relay races and that was a lot of fun. But it wasn’t fun when your team lost the race and you had to do sprints or push-ups. Also, this year at camp we did some off-ice training, which was exciting and new for me. I’m used to working out solo in my basement but this was something new and different.
The Olympians did a Q&A with us and filled us in on their lives. I was so amazed that Dana comes from Long Island, New York (just like me) and she played on boys teams until she was able to go to a boarding school and play with the girls. I felt a real connection to her and it made me feel that I might have a different path than most female hockey players, but it doesn’t mean I can’t reach my goal.
Remember when I was talking about not being sure where I will be in the Fall with a Hockey Team, well going to York, PA and attending this camp cleared my head and gave me some great confidence and inspiration to get a better idea of what I want to do this fall. If you have the opportunity, go to a summer hockey camp and play with different people, whether it be girls or boys, and get inspired. If we don’t follow the unique path that we are meant to be on we will never know where we will wind up.
