The 14U Washington Wild team had a blast playing in the Remembrance Day Tournament several weeks ago in Burnaby, B.C.  The girls traveled north for three days of all-girl hockey fun, matching up against Bantam teams from Richmond, Abbotsford, North Shore, and Kamloops.  As you all know, opportunities to play other girls’ teams are few and far between in the Seattle area.  It was really cool to see our team surrounded from morning until night by eight ice rinks full of female hockey players!

Although outscored in each of our four games, the 14U Wild showed incredible perseverance.  They played hard every game, not letting up even when the score was against them.  Coaches McNeill and Willis saw smiles when the girls skated in after shifts.  We spectators saw great sportsmanship:  positive on-ice talk and lots of shin taps and helmet butts to encourage teammates.  Way to go, WILD!

The on-ice chatter continued off-ice:  after our Sunday morning game, the girls let loose for some fun.  First, the 14U girls cheered on the 19U WILD team in a tough match against Abbotsford, and then some of the group squeezed in a round of bowling.  On Sunday evening, the whole team gathered for an outing to the nearby mall, where everyone caught some dinner and hung out.   Finally, a bunch of the girls (and assorted siblings) hit the hotel pool.  Several “Marco-Polo” battles were waged in those wee hours.

After a great weekend together, the girls came back from Burnaby a different team – cohesive, energetic, and WILD.

– by Holly Corner