The chill outside only could mean one thing, it’s winter time! Going outside, kids playing with the snow and drinking hot chocolate, but what else is there? Sports. Roxbury High School has many winter sports going around this season such as indoor track and field, bowling, girls and boys basketball, swimming, wrestling, and ice hockey. Ice hockey is a sport that can take a while to get used to, especially if it’s played competitively.
How Is The Season Going?
This season, our hockey team’s record is three wins, ten losses, and one tie, with more games to come. With 14 games down, being successful either as a team or individual can be challenging. Being under pressure can also affect that; playing a game that is close in score can affect your mental state which leaves you to be unsuccessful. This was true for the St. Bernard’s game, which the RHS hockey team lost 5-4 vs the High Point game which they won 8-1.
Success
One of this year’s captains is number 18, Junior Ryan VanZile. VanZile has scored the highest number of goals so far in this season with a total of 17 goals. Coming close is Senior Gavin Barooah with eight goals. With all the goals VanZile has scored, he feels his biggest success is their first win against Mountain Lakes. VanZile says, “It was the first game of the season, but we came together as a team. We worked very hard and we followed everything we were told.”
How Mental Health Affects Your Game
While playing a mental sport, there will be mental blocks causing you to not perform your best. In games like Roxbury vs. High Point where they are a little bit further in score, VanZile states, “I like to give the younger players a chance. It is their time to develop and become better hockey players. It is fun, but when you are beating a team by that much, it’s tough to learn a lesson.” On the other hand, games like the St. Bernard’s game were a lot closer of a game with the ending score of 5-4. Roxbury kept it close for the first two quarters with a score of 2-2, second quarter Roxbury scored twice making the score 4-2. Soon enough, St. Bernard’s closed it up with three goals to finish it.
How to Deal with the Heat
Students in the game, parents, and supporters in the stands all were nervous. For VanZile what was going through his mind was, “What do I have to do better, or what do I have to talk to my teammates about?” VanZile also stated, “It’s easy to become unconcentrated, but we just have to listen to our coach.” Achieving those steps might have helped them score two more points in the last quarter.
A Girl in Ice Hockey?
Ice hockey is known as a male sport yet there are still females on the team. Junior Alexis Oliveira, forward, and freshman, Amanda Katz, goalie. Being a female in a male-dominated sport could be challenging. Alexis Oliveira says, “Unfortunately over the years of being a female in a male-dominant sport, I’ve encountered a bunch of challenges. Some challenges I’ve encountered are unfair expectations, gender bias, discrimination, unfair playing time, and sometimes just being looked at as different. Fortunately for me, these challenges were rare because I’ve always had a special skill in my game from a young age. Luckily for me, I only faced these challenges as a young player and new.” These challenges made Oliveira the player she is today and built her mindset to be as strong as she believes.
How Do Females Take on the Pressure?
Both Oliveira and Katz don’t feel pressure being a female in hockey. Katz states, “Playing in a male-dominated sport feels empowering. Being able to thrive in this sport gives me the ability to showcase the capabilities of women as a whole. I’ve grown up surrounded by ice hockey, and being able to shatter the stereotypes not only contributes to self-growth but inspires athletes to pursue their dream unapologetically, regardless of gender constraints.” She feels that she has only grown from playing this sport.
Growing Within Yourself
Not only does their mental ability grow, their relationships have grown as well. For example, Oliveira stated, “Playing with the boys for more than half my hockey career has built me into the player I am today and grew them into not only my teammates but my older brothers. They stick up for me a little more than anyone on the team and respect me as well. I love playing with boys and being able to show younger females that no matter what the sport and gender is, you can do it too.” She has been playing with these guys for a while and has grown stronger with them, not only is that helping her confidence, but it is helping how they play as a team.
Team-work Makes the Dream-work
This year’s ice hockey team has been through great wins and tough losses. No matter what, they all have fun and support each other. With six seniors this season there will be a lot of spots to fill next season. Having four more scheduled games for this season they will continue to have a great season. Possibly some more girls will show off their skills and join ice hockey. As VanZile says, “It’s all part of the process.”
