A snap sounded like the crack of a whip around the arena, followed by cheers from the Evanston Girls Hockey Club team as Evanston took control of the puck once again. Patrick Baldwin, assistant coach of the Glenbrook Girls hockey team, jumped onto the bench, new stick in hand. Throwing the broken piece aside, Kelly Ward, senior at Glenbrook South High School, heard Baldwin screaming her name. In one smooth motion, she caught the stick that Baldwin tossed and returned to the action, leaving the wooden scraps and the parents yelling, “Duct tape works,” behind.
Broken sticks and yelling parents are not new concepts to the members of the Glenbrook team, a group made up of 15 girls from Glenbrook North, Regina, Niles West and GBS. The grades range from freshman to senior, and six players are from GBN. The program was started in 2010 by the mothers of GBN alumna Katie Riley (‘12) and GBS alumna Kelsey Dupuis (‘12).
Sophomore Talia Miller has been part of this program since freshman year.
“When Talia was 4 or 5, I tried to convince her to stick with figure skating,” said Miller’s mother. “She skated in ice shows as a figure skater, didn’t really like it, switched to hockey and never switched back.”
Sophomore Sarah Fisher was another member of the Glenbrook team. Until sixth grade, Fisher said she played on the Northbrook Bluehawks boys team, and she would have to tuck in her ponytail to keep it from getting pulled.
“The guys would gang up on me because I was a girl,” said Fisher. “They would hit me hard and say, ‘Oh it’s a girl.’”
Girls hockey is aggressive, too.
“Believe it or not, [girls] are vicious,” said Fisher. “They talk smack and beat up on you when the [referee] isn’t looking. It’s rough.”
Fisher said being taken seriously while playing girls hockey is one of the hardest obstacles she has had to overcome. For instance, once she was put on a different team because of her size.
“I was doing well at tryouts,” said Fisher. “But [the coach] said I was not strong enough and didn’t want me to get hurt.”
After playing on the Northbrook Bluehwaks, she joined Chicago Young Americans (CYA). Although Fisher decided to leave the Glenbrook team program in mid-October, she continues to play for CYA. Fisher said she left because she would only be able to make a handful of the games because CYA conflicts, and her parents did not want her committing to a team in which she will be missing the majority of the season.
“She was one of our best players, so it’s a bummer,” Miller said.
Baldwin said that the team is affected by the loss of Fisher. Because Fisher was a leader on offense, he said now the team needs to learn how to produce goals from other outlets.
According to Baldwin, the team as a whole has grown a lot, learning the sport and supporting each other through the years.
“There’s a lot more giggling with coaching [girls], but not as much crying as I expected,” Baldwin said jokingly.
This is Baldwin’s second year coaching the girls. Baldwin assists Head Coach Tim Benz, who was hired this year.
So far the team is 0-4, and has games on Friday Nov. 8 against Lake Forest Academy and Saturday Nov. 10 against New Trier Girls Silver.
“Hopefully what we’re teaching them doesn’t just stick on the ice,” said Baldwin. “They are looking at me as an example, and I need to put my best foot forward so they can put their best foot forward.”