Game on Girls: Hockey moms hitting the ice

By Kinjal Dagli Shah

Growing up in the west island of Montreal, Christina Cameron watched her brother play hockey and was hooked. It was 1982, however, and only boys were allowed to play hockey. “I was only 4-years old so my parents signed me up as a boy, calling me Chris. I would go to the rink with all my equipment on but halfway through the season, they found out I was a girl and I got kicked off the team,” recalls Cameron, a mother of three now living in Markham.

Cameron had to switch to playing ringette, and loved it too. She donned the roles of player, coach and referee for ringette teams as she grew up. It wasn’t until high school that she had her first true exposure to hockey. “I was on the first-ever girls hockey team at Brother Andre High School in Markham,” says Cameron, who joined the Markham Ladies Hockey League (MLHL) after university. “A lot more women are playing hockey now so there are many leagues to choose from. I truly look forward to Thursday nights, when I play at the Crosby arena in Unionville. The girls I play with are great and sometimes we go to Jake’s on Main after the game for drinks,” she says.

Cameron runs her own business, handling investor relations for life science companies. She is part of a growing roster of mothers who are not just driving their kids to games but to their own games as well.

“My daughters have now started playing the sport through the Markham Stouffville Stars. They are making some great friends as part of being on a team and we have also made friends with the parents. There are many runs to Tim Hortons after the game with their teammates,” says Cameron, adding, “I also decided this year that the best way to inspire these young girls in the sport is to see other woman on the ice. So I am now coaching my 5-year-old’s hockey team.”

Like Cameron, Kimberly Clark didn’t get much of an opportunity to play hockey when she was growing up in the small Ontario towns like Cordova Mines and Colborne. “We played shinny on the pond after school and on weekends, or at the outdoor rink the town would make each year. After leaving home in 1998, I didn’t end up playing hockey again for eight years until I joined the women’s league in Stouffville,” says Clark, a mother of two.

The 37-year-old real estate agent now plays co-ed shinny hockey with her husband and a few other couples on a weekly basis. “My husband and I build a rink in the community park by our house every year and set it up with some nets etc. to get the kids in the community out on the ice.”

While Clark enjoys her hockey date night with her husband, she looks forward to guzzling a can or two of beer with the ladies. “It’s a great experience to meet people with the same interests and have some fun on the ice. I still chat with the women I played shinny with years ago. With my current hockey mates, we organize nights out and glug the occasional beer in the dressing room,” says Clark, adding with a laugh, “Shh, don’t tell the town.”

For Clark, hockey also means getting a break to do something that’s purely for herself. “Hockey leagues are a great way to get to know more people. It’s fun, it’s fast and it’s a great form of exercise. We play at 10 p.m. on a Monday so I hate having to leave late at night after a long day with kids, work and everything in between. However, once you step into the dressing room it’s a complete mood booster.”

While some women may take a temporary break from hockey when life changes come in the way, it seems to be a sport that never really leaves your side. Hayley Hughes and Heather Hughes became instant stars in their local community and beyond when they won two golds at the OFSAA provincial high school hockey championships 10 years ago.

“If people know you have a sport background, particularly from a successful program, there is an understanding that you can handle pressure, take feedback, and that you are a pretty well-rounded person. It is particularly true with women’s hockey because it means you know how to balance your academic, career, and athletic time in order to be an effective and efficient person,” said Hayley, who was recruited by Cornell University, thanks in great part to her hockey career. Younger sister Heather, too, reaped the benefits of a sisterhood with all the people she met and the places she travelled to for games. She was awarded a full ride scholarship to Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, which she attended for a year. “I had a very rewarding hockey career and hockey has been a huge part of my life. The scholarship was great, even though I couldn’t finish because of personal reasons,” said 26-year-old Heather, a mother to two young children.

Heather is on maternity leave with her 3-month-old son but she knows that an ice rink is never too far away.