Bishop Alexander Carter Girls Hockey Club Having Fun During Inaugural Season

The 13 girls who form the first ever Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School hockey club are making history during the 2005-2006 school year. Even if they don't win any championships, there will never be another "first ever" girls hockey team at the school. And judging from the positive attitude of the girls, they are certainly establishing a great foundation for the future of this sport at their school.

Three of the players are shown in the photo while they supervised a fund-raising table at the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre. They are, from the left: Allison Langlois who plays forward; Kylie Fawcett who is on defense; and Skylar Boyle, who is a forward. All three girls are 15 years of age and all are in Grade 10.

The team coach is Kristy MacKenzie, who is trying to follow in her father's footsteps as a hockey coach. Ken  MacKenzie, became well-known in the region as one of the most successful and popular coaches of the Sudbury Wolves and later with the Rayside Balfour Sabrecats. Kristy stated that Ken often comes out to help with practices. Many local fans will also recall her brother, Derek MacKenzie, the former captain of the Sudbury Wolves who now toils as a professional with the Chicago Wolves. Kristy teaches math, phys. ed and art at the school.

Kristy herself was an accomplished hockey player who stayed in the game until the end of her Midget 'AA' season. She was offered scholarships to schools in the United States, but declined. In fact, Kristy commented that while watching Team Canada win the Gold at the Olympics, she saw a number of former team mates on the club.

The Bishop Alexander Carter hockey team conducted a raffle for an autographed Ottawa Senators jersey in order to raise funds for the operating expenses of the team. It is hoped that their fund-raising will be successful enough to help them purchase 'away jerseys' for the 2006-2007 season. The draw will be held on March 2, 2006.

The girls returned to the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre to sell more tickets on Saturday February 25, 2006, when two current stars from the Sudbury Wolves, Benoit Pouliot and Marc Staal were in the mall from 2 - 3 p.m. to sign autographs. Below, we see Carissa Henri and Allison Langlois with their coach, Kristy MacKenzie, standing. Carissa is a 17 year old Grade 12 student at the school.

The girls played a total of ten (10) regular season games in the Division II High School League during the 2005-2006 season. While they ended up with a record of 1 win, 6 losses and 3 ties, they never lost their positive attitude. Most of the girls on the team are in Grade 9 or 10, so they will all be returning for the next couple of seasons.

They attended a tournament in Toronto where they came second in the "D" Division. This was definitely a high point of the season.

"Most of the other schools already have a well-established girls' hockey program," explained Kristy. "I watched some of the Division I games and there are some pretty good hockey players around. A lot of the better girls also play on other house league or rep teams and the top players are usually all playing in the Sudbury Regional Girls Hockey League. You can tell by the colour of their socks."

Kristy went on, "The girls are already talking about next season. Even though we didn't achieve much on-ice success, it was a great building year and next year looks like it will be a whole lot better.

 
 

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