University student spearheads female junior hockey team in Sasktoon | 24CA News
An 18-year-old Saskatoon college scholar is the rationale for the not too long ago introduced Saskatoon feminine hockey staff becoming a member of the U22 feminine junior hockey league.
“Saskatoon being the biggest city in the province, I thought every girl should have the right to play, and if we can be the biggest city and help all the north teams, then that was what I wanted to try to do,” mentioned Ashley Wehrens.
The U22 feminine junior hockey league was introduced in December 2022 with 5 groups: Regina, Prince Albert, North Battleford, Lumsden, Outlook/Kindersley and a staff representing Swift Current and Gull Lake.
No Saskatoon staff was initially introduced.
Kicking off her marketing campaign for a Saskatoon staff, Wehrens contacted Hockey Saskatchewan and the Saskatoon Minor Hockey Association, which helped her set off heading in the right direction with the applying course of.
“I did a lot of sponsorships, finding coaches, finding board members and finding players,” Wehrens mentioned. “Once the announcement was made that there was only five teams, I was like, let’s try and make a team in Saskatoon, let’s make it six.”
Wehrens advised Global News the method wasn’t simple.
“Very hard, a lot harder than I thought it would be. I knew a lot of people would want to be interested, but it was finding the right people, and I’m glad I did that,” she mentioned.
It took Wehrens a few month to finish the applying course of, nevertheless it all paid off. In May, Hockey Saskatchewan introduced Saskatoon might be becoming a member of the league.
The staff identify: the Saskatoon Prairie Blaze.
“It was really important because I wanted to play competitive hockey again, and in a sense, I did not want to go down without a fight and to at least try.”
Hockey Saskatchewan provides all credit score for the staff to Wehrens and says the demand for the staff could possibly be excessive.
“There’s a lot of girls playing. Not everybody can play USports or NCAA anymore so I think there will be a good demand because of the four-year age group,” mentioned Kelly McClintock, basic supervisor of Hockey Saskatchewan.
According to Wehrens, simply from her social media posts, there are already 30 potential gamers planning to check out, one among them being a buddy and former teammate of hers.
“I was really upset knowing that there was no Saskatoon team in the beginning, so I thought I would have to go play rec hockey but that’s not as competitive, so I wasn’t as excited for that,” mentioned Ashlyn Bernath, who plans to check out for the Prairie Blaze. “Finding out that Saskatoon was accepted, it was really good.”
Wehrens is worked up to play with associates, but in addition simply to get again on the ice.
“I cannot wait to get back on the ice and not be in official mode, but actually get to go dig in the corners and score goals because that’s my favourite thing to do,” mentioned Wehrens.
“The sport is honestly the best thing, knowing that people actually have all of our females and knowing that female hockey is still growing the way it needs to be and be prominent.”
The Saskatoon Prairie Blaze are holding a spring camp on the finish of May, in addition to a fall camp in August.
The U22 feminine hockey league season is ready to start in October.
