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Sports: Female hockey stars looking forward to Games experience
Mac Olsen
for South Peace News
Four of hockey’s finest from High Prairie and area will be playing for the Zone 8 team in the Lakeland 2010 Alberta Winter Games Feb. 4-7, in Bonnyville.
Dakota Badger, of the High Prairie Young Guns, the peewee girls’ team; Amy Kuchuk, who plays for the Grande Prairie Storm, a Triple A bantam team; Machaela Rose, who plays for the High Prairie Midget A Timberwolves female team; and Elisha Cunningham, who also plays for the Grande Prairie team, made the cut during tryouts for the Zone 8 team.
Badger was nervous about being interviewed, so her mother, Shelly Badger, spoke for her. The family is very proud she is going to the Games.
“She really worked hard to get there,” says Badger. “She’s probably one of the youngest on the team and hopefully that doesn’t make her nervous, but I think she’ll be OK.”
When not practicing with the Young Guns, she’s practicing on her home rink in Sucker Creek. She played in Edmonton in 2009 and did well, her mother adds.
Greg Nesom, coach of the Young Guns, praises her for making the cut.
“The Alberta Cup is the foundation for the elite program within Hockey Alberta. For a girl to make it as a peewee is a great accomplishment. She had a terrific tryout and worked hard, so it’s well-deserved,” says Nesom.
The coaches didn’t do anything specific to help Badger prepare for the tryouts; she made it on her own. The skills she takes into the Games include speed, as well as smart offensive and defensive play, he adds.
Kuchuk says it is “pretty cool” to be playing with the Zone 8 team. They only get three hours to practice together, but their time includes lessons in healthy eating choices. She also does a lot of off- and on-ice conditioning.
“Basically, our normal team stuff keeps us in shape for it,” says Kuchuk.
She’s looking forward to the Games with anticipation.
“I’ll probably be pretty excited and nervous at the beginning, but once I start playing, it’ll set in.”
Seeing her older brother play hockey is what interested her in the game. She’s been playing for seven years and wants to go as far as possible. Her mother, Jane Kuchuk, is pleased she made the Zone 8 team and says she has been working very hard.
“She was in the older age group this year, so that helped,” says Jane Kuchuk. “Playing with the Grande Prairie team really helped with her conditioning and skills.”
Offering the best performance is the only thing which matters to her parents.
“We’ve always told our kids, as long as they give 110 per cent when they step on that ice, we don’t care about goals scored or things like that,” says Kuchuk. “I think it’s really paid off in her work ethic.”
The family has made a lot of sacrifices, which includes her dad, Blair Kuchuk, who drives her to Grande Prairie twice a week for practice.
A big scream is what Machaela Rose offered when learning she made the Zone 8 team.
“I was very excited, I screamed (and jumped) on top of the couch,” she says.
She, too, expects to feel excited and nervous during the Games and will give it her best effort.
“You have to work really hard because you don’t want to be the weakest link,” says Rose, adding the team has already started building a bond.
Her dad, Philip Rose, is one of the coaches for the Timberwolves. For him, the amount of commitment each player gives is ultimately up to them.
“The whole thing about any of these girls is, you have to let them live their own dream,” he says. “They have to want to play hockey, to excel at hockey. One of the biggest things I tell every team that I coach, ‘If you can be physically fit and actually know how to skate, then you never get tired enough that your mind can’t think about the game.’”
He has never had to explain, teach or coach his daughter to have heart. She comes to practice and gives a 100 per cent effort, he says, so all he has to do is give her the fundamentals.
Lindsay Bloom has been running the Timberwolves dry land training program, which has helped his daughter. The girls are buying into the idea off-ice activities get them prepped for their on-ice activities, he adds.
Machaela Rose has been playing hockey for eight years. Beyond the Alberta Winter Games, her dream is to play at the Winter Olympics and she hopes to get a scholarship.
Elisha Cunningham is also happy to make the Zone 8 team and has spent a lot of time training for it.
“At home, I practice my wrist shot, work out and go skating,” says Cunningham.
She feels nervous and excited about going to the Games. She and Kuchuk have a strong bond on the Grande Prairie team, which will carry over to the Zone 8 team.
Cunningham, too, would like to goes as far as she can in hockey, perhaps play at the Winter Olympics. Her mother, Cindy Cunningham, also wants her to go as far as she can in the sport.
“I’m probably more proud of her than she is,” says Cindy Cunningham.
“I don’t do anything, it’s all her own motivation and she practices constantly.”
The Cunninghams live in Gift Lake, so they have a travel a long distance for her practices. But they have made the commitment and having a lot family support makes it easier, she adds.
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Dakota Badger plays with the High Prairie Young Guns, peewee girls’ team.
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Elisha Cunningham is excited to make the Zone 8 team and, like the others, has practiced a lot.
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Amy Kuchuk plays Bantam AAA hockey in Grande Prairie. Her father takes her to the city twice a week.
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Machaela Rose plays for the High Prairie Midget A Timberwolves female team in the All Peace Minor Hockey League.
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