Skating into history

THE ORIGINAL "ORIGINALS." Graduating seniors from the first ever girls' varsity hockey team in York pose after being honored at Seniors' Night on Feb. 16 at the Rochester Ice Arena. Pictured, from left, are Kelsey Cruz, Sara Hanlon, Christina Keroack, Natalie Kaknes and Ali DiElsi.
Photo by Tori Rasche

KEEPING PERSPECTIVE. York girls' hockey Coaches Bob Blais (foreground) and Kevin Banfield keep a calm watch over their first-year varsity team during last week's win over Deering.
Photo by Tori Rasche

YORK - Two years ago, they were the unknowns. 

A group of girls on a club team, struggling to learn a new sport, and a group of dedicated coaches and parents, patient and stubborn enough to support them through it. Without funds - except what they raised on their own, without formal support from the school and town they represented, they learned, lost more often than not, but played on anyway, hoping their day would come.

Another year passed. Meetings with school and town officials, more fundraising, parents and players banding together to carpool to distant rinks, run the scorer's tables, schedule practices. High school principals and athletic directors sticking their necks out, willing to ask the taxpayers for money to support it all, and believing it was right to do so.

Today they call themselves the "Originals," as in the first, as in never before. No longer just a club team out there on the fringes, now a varsity sport for the first time ever.

Wearing the uniform of the York Wildcats, knocking off long-time school rivals like Falmouth, getting respect from their peers as a legitimate team. Knowing that what they have is something they themselves had to work for.

York girls' varsity hockey. You bet they are.

Head Coach Kevin Banfield, who has been with the girls from the start, put things simply: "They worked hard for four years and now they are able to walk around with respect."

"These girls that are there now," said Kevin Brown, father of junior forward Nell Henderson-Brown, "from this experience they all realize that good things just don't happen, that there are processes to go through and they are now getting to experience the reward of doing things the way they need to be done."

Senior forward and Co-Captain Ali DiElsi, who was part of the first all-girls hockey team in York during her middle school years, called the whole experience "incredible."

"Our team has grown so much from those first days, years ago," she said. "Many of us had never even been on skates before."

The team's other senior co-captain, center Natalie Kaknes, echoed her teammates thoughts.

"It's amazing to see how far our team and the girls' hockey program has come over the past five years," she said. "This year has been the best because we've been recognized as a varsity sport and our team has become really close on and off the ice."

Playing out their final season in the Maine Girls Ice Hockey Association, York will be among the teams included in next year's first ever girls' league to be officially sanctioned by the Maine Principals Association, thereby completing the journey from grassroots start-up to a full-fledged high school sport.

But local recognition as a varsity sport this past year by the York School Department has been a crucial step in ensuring the continued viability of the program. While each player still is required to contribute $650 toward costs and provide their own equipment as well, recognition from the school allowed for the girls to receive bus transportation to practices and games, a critical component in making sure that younger players could participate.

Graham Taylor, father of sophomore defender Ashley Taylor and newly-appointed head of the York Girls' Ice Hockey Booster Association, said that it is their goal to raise enough to eliminate fees for the players altogether. Taylor said that the boosters estimate that they would need to raise $20,000 annually in order to cover everything for both varsity and JV levels.

"Unfortunately," said Taylor, "York is one of the more expensive towns for hockey due to the fact that we have no local rink, which leads to higher transportation costs."

But it is the on-the-ice work that everybody has focused on this year, the highlight of which so far was a thrilling 2-1 victory at Falmouth where the entire York boys' hockey team showed up to cheer their classmates on.

"That was a huge, huge upset," said Coach Banfield. "With that whole team cheering for us it sounded like we were the home team. The school support definitely made the difference."

Talking about the Falmouth game, and the solid record the team has posted through the year, Banfield said that the girls' ability to perform in their first year is significant.

"It gives the girls some pride and legitimizes in their eyes that they are part of their school and that this is not just some fluke thing," he said.

Heading into their final regular season game, the Wildcats were one game above .500 at 8-7-1 and looked set for a fourth-place finish and a spot in the playoffs.

"Our team has really come a long way this season and it is awesome to finally see all our efforts pay off," said senior Sara Hanlon. "For the first time ever, we are recognized as a varsity sport and we have a winning record."

From his perspective, Banfield spoke highly of both YHS Principal Bob Stevens and Athletic Director Ted Welch in making this first varsity season a reality.

"They have been extremely supportive since day one and I have nothing but praise for those two," he said.

But for the girls, they know who they want to thank first.

"Our coaches, Mr. Banfield and Mr. (Bob) Blais, are the ones that really need to be thanked. They've put in so much time and effort over the years. They've taught us so much and they're the reason for our improvements," said Kaknes.

"We never would have come this far without them," agreed DiElsi.

Kaknes' mother Kathy, whose daughter had never played organized hockey before her freshman year, gave the coaching high marks as well.

"When hockey came along, it was just so much fun for these girls," she said, "and throughout the whole time you could see it was being managed to stay fun and stay positive. ... I think it was the commitment of Kevin, Bob and Jeff Hird (a part-time assistant and youth league coach) to the girls that drove the whole process and led to girls' hockey becoming a varsity sport. I don't know if so many of the girls would have stuck with it without these coaches and their attitudes and style of coaching."

DiElsi's mother Lynn added her praise for the coaching staff.

"From the beginning Kevin and Bob took these kids who would never have considered playing competitive hockey and donated their time, taught the girls the skills and more important they taught them what it meant to be a team," she said. "As a parent, you know how important it is for these girls to be well-rounded young women who value athletics and schoolwork, girls who can feel good about themselves and what they've done.  I think this team and this group of coaches has allowed them to do that."

Kevin Brown put the effort in a larger perspective, emphasizing the importance of having these programs available to girls, and not just boys.

"In our culture, sports hold enormous weight. Because it is so valued, the idea that girls are achieving equity in these sports is of tremendous importance, and over time the idea of comparative value between girls' and boys' sports will evaporate," he said. "The way these girls are growing up, they just won't accept that things are not equal."

Skating off the ice after their Feb. 16 win against Deering at the Rochester Ice Arena in Rochester, N.H., the five graduating seniors posed for a moment while their parents snapped photos, mementos of the first senior night for York girls' varsity hockey.

"I'm really sad to see it end," said graduating senior forward Chrissy Keroack, "but I think the team will continue to do well in the future as a varsity sport."

Another departing senior, Kelsey Cruz said, "I'm going to miss this team tremendously. I love each and every one of them. We all knew how to cheer each other up."

"I'll  definitely miss playing on this team," added Kaknes, "but I can't wait to come back and watch these girls skate next year."