Sarah Thon, 16, is just happy to be on the ice and coaches are happy to have her there as well.
“Her skating ability is very good,” Jason Garneau, coach of the Prince George Cougars major midget girls hockey team said.
“Her size gives her a good reach, she’s aggressive in her play which gives her good gap control.”
For those reasons and others, BC Hockey has invited Thon, a Grade 10 student at Correlieu senior secondary school, to attend the girls U18 provincial camp in Salmon Arm May 19 – 23.
Although Thon has been playing hockey since she was a child, she only just completed her first full season playing hockey on an all-girls team, the major midget Cougars.
Accustomed to playing on boys teams, Thon explained there were adjustments that were a little difficult to make.
“I do miss the hitting,” Thon said with a sly smile, referring to boys hockey where hitting is allowed.
Thon did admit she did get into penalty trouble now and then with her physical play.
“It took her a bit of time to adjust,” Garneau agreed.
“But she did.”
Although she found the pace of the game in the girls league a little slow and less physical, Thon, an honour roll student, said she enjoyed the experience playing in a girls league, with one exception.
“Early morning practices,” she said with a laugh.
Despite the early morning practices, Thon did learn to make adjustments in her game to better suit the girls game, namely establishing good angles against opposing skaters and her body positioning when fighting for the puck, Garneau said.
Even though there is no ice in Quesnel, Thon continues to work on her foot speed and other aspects of her game with Brian Kozak at the Quesnel Acceleration Training Center.
Coming off a two goal and two-assist performance at the U18 BC Cup in Salmon Arm, Thon is looking forward to her return trip for the U18 provincial camp.
“I think I have a pretty good shot,” she said of her chances of making the 23-player roster.
“A lot better than last year.”
Thon tried out for the provincial U18 girls team last year, but did not make the final squad.
She is determined to make the team.
“It would be quite the experience.”
Despite her optimism, Thon explained, the task of cracking the provincial U18 lineup will not be an easy task, it will not be just a matter of showing up.
Three of the six spots on the blueline are already spoken for by returning players, leaving just three spots open in the defensive corps.
Nonetheless Thon is cautiously optimistic she can fill one of those spots on the blueline.
As for nerves, Thon admits she is somewhat apprehensive, but at the same time there is a certain familiarity to the experience given she does know most of the other girls that will be at the camp.
As for goals, in the short term, Thon has achieved the first step, with an invitation to the provincial U18 hockey camp.
Thon will be one of 46 players vying for one of 23 spots on the Team BC summer camp roster.
The summer camp is a strength and conditioning camp where players also focus on fitness and nutrition. The players also work on team concepts in preparation for national competition at the 2011 Female National U18 Championship in Quebec in November.
Following the national championship there will be another selection for a U18 national team, which Thon said is one of her long-term goals.
Ultimately, Thon hopes to one day represent Canada at the Olympics, to follow in the footsteps of her favourite female hockey player, Hayley Wickenheiser.
“She has a lot of drive,” Thon said of Wickenheiser.
“She’s crazy.”
Garneau sees the very same attributes in Thon.
“She’s very coachable, a popular teammate,” he said.
“She has the right attitude and gobbles up ice time.
“She just loves the game.”
Speaking with Thon it’s obvious she loves the game, obvious she is determined to take the next step in her hockey career, obvious she knows exactly what she has to do to succeed.
“I just have to work harder than everybody else,” Thon said.
“I know what I need to do.”