By Kai Youngren ‘19 and Kaleb Youngren ‘21, Staff Writers

Imagine looking up and seeing a vast sea of crazed fans, hearing a deafening roar, and feeling that strange mix of anxiousness and exhilaration.  You are standing before a crowd, in the stadium of your favorite sports team, about to begin the biggest game of your life.  It’s your debut on the biggest stage ever.  Many people across the world share this dream, boys and girls alike.  Unfortunately, many women are not afforded the opportunity to fulfill their dream of playing for their favorite sports team, because females are generally not invited to play with the major leagues.  However, many professional sports teams are addressing this  controversy and have invited women to play and practice with the team.

Most recently, the Anaheim Ducks of the NHL invited Hilary Knight, 25-year-old starting forward for the two-time silver medalist U.S. Olympic Women’s Hockey team, to practice with the team.  Knight graduated from the University of Wisconsin to become the only American to win MVP in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League and the only female to practice with an NHL team.  Growing up, Hilary attended Choate Rosemary Hall, a prep school similar to NA, in Connecticut.  This school cultivated her amazing talent as well as educating her into an intelligent woman.

Her practice took place on Friday night, October 3, 2014.  During practice Knight stunned everybody including head coach, Bruce Boudreau, who said, “I was really pleasantly surprised at her skill.”  (USA Today 2014).  Over the course of the practice she proved that she was more than good enough to play and keep up with the team.  Knight participated in passing, skating, and shooting drills with the team as well as guest-coaching the Lady Ducks, a program that trains aspiring female hockey players.  During an interview with reporters, Hilary Knight admitted to being a little nervous and worried about stepping on the ice with the Ducks.  She said, “Before practice coach asked me if I was nervous. I replied, ‘Yeah, absolutely!’ I didn’t want to mess anything up.” (USA Today).  Her worrying was pointless because as Ducks defenseman Ben Lovejoy put it, “In her element against her peers, she is clearly dominant. … She truly did fit in. You really had to try to find her on the ice, because she wasn’t out of place at all. She was snapping pucks right on the tape. Precise passing. She put it on the money every time.”  (USA Today 2014).

By courageously stepping on the ice with the Ducks, in some ways representing women’s hockey as a whole, Knight definitely did not disappoint.  She proved to many of the Ducks players and coaches that women’s hockey is just as good as the NHL and that many of the women like Hilary could even become stars in the league.  Hilary Knight is obviously a great role model not only for female hockey players, but for everyone. Hilary Knight demonstrates many qualities we at Newark Academy  value, including perseverance, courage, compassion, and, most importantly, willpower.