Rockies offer helping hand

Times Editor

 

The Strathmore Rockies were in the giving spirit this holiday season.

The local women’s hockey team provided their time, hockey knowledge and Christmas spirit to a pair of girls teams in the community.

Players from the Rockies hosted a practice for the Strathmore bantam girls team on Dec. 19, and one for the peewee girls team on Dec. 21 at the Strathmore Family Centre.

“We do this to give back and give a little bit of our hockey knowledge to the young girls coming up,” said Rockies captain Kaley Herman after the peewee practice. “When I started (hockey), there wasn’t a lot of girls playing at the time, so there wasn’t really many people to look up to. There was no (Western Women’s Hockey League) that we could aspire to play in. So I think that it’s good (for us) to come out and let them know that there is something out there for women. Wheather it’s college hockey or our league.”

According to Herman, a good chunk of the practice was used to teach the girls how to use their edges while skating. They also worked on stick-handling and controlling the puck in the offensive zone.

“I think it’s really beneficial because – it’s surprising – they talk about a lot of the same stuff that we do in our practice,” said peewee coach Mike Corbiell. “To have somebody (they look up to) come in and reinforce that is awesome. I think the way girls hockey is developing, there is more opportunity (for these girls) than there ever was.”

According to Corbiell, the peewee girls have improved tremendously since the start of the season. 

“We take baby steps – we keep improving,” said the coach. “At the beginning of the year, I went ‘oh, my goodness, we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.’

“It’s amazing how much we’ve progressed. The last time I looked there is eight teams in the league – and at the Christmas break here – we were in third place, two points out of second. It’s really awesome.

“For a team goal, the girls want to make playoffs and they want to go to provincials. They’re on the right track.”

With the help of the Rockies, that team goal is closer than before.