Sports
Women’s Hockey Team Makes Comeback
After adding more schools to the roster, a Glenbrook girls hockey team returns following a three-year hiatus.
Armed with pads and mouth guards, seventeen girls showed up at the Glenview Ice Center Sept. 12 to try out for the Glenbrook girls' hockey team.
The last time the Glenbrook schools fielded a female hockey squad, the team ended their season at the state championship. Following the team's success in 2007, the program disbanded the following year because there weren't enough interested players to form a complete team. Today, just three years after their state championship appearance, the team is back.
Many of the players at tryouts also play for a club team and say they are eager to play with a high school team.
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"I never have [played for a high school] before, so I'm excited about it," said Calli Paulsen, a senior at Glenbard East and a hockey team hopeful.
The squad— which will pull from players at Glenbrook South, Glenbrook North, Maine East, Niles West, Evanston, Johnsburg and Glenbard East high schools—will play in the Chicago Metro League against local opponents like Loyola and New Trier. The team's head coach, Shawn Harmon, also coaches Team Illinois U19 AAA girls' club hockey.
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Allowing more high schools to feed into one team has made all the difference, according to players and their families. Only two high schools, Loyola and New Trier, are able to pull in enough female players from their districts to field dedicated school teams.
"A lot of people don't want their daughters to play because they think it's too rough," said Nelson Spruston, whose daughter tried out for the team.
As Spruston watched his own daughter on the ice, he admittedly found himself slightly concerned about the roughness of the sport, he explained.
"Most girls have to play with boys; that's why my daughter started so late," he said.
An often male-dominated sport, players say time on the ice with the opposite sex makes a substantial difference in level of play.
"You can tell who played with boys and who didn't," said Katie Riley, a junior at Glenbrook North.
In addition to new talent, the team has several return players including Kelsey Dupuis, a Glenbrook South senior who played in the state championship game three years ago.
The new team starts play Oct. 15, following a second night of tryouts Sunday, Sept. 19 at the Glenview Ice Center, 1851 Landwehr Rd. No previous experience is necessary and there will be no cuts.
