Season: 2006-2007
2006-2007
Vivian Lin
I grew up a frustrated tomboy in San Francisco. I didn’t get to play a lot of sports, because I was a MUSIC GEEK. My mom actually went in to my middle school to tell my gym teachers I wasn’t allowed to participate in certain activities, since I needed to keep my fingers intact for the violin.
Luckily, my mom DID send me for ice skating lessons the summer I was nine. There was one tiny little ice rink in SF at the time, I remember the ice sheet was small and round, and there was always a puddle of water on one part of it. I loved skating, except for the fact that I had to wear an oatmeal-colored figure skating outfit dress-thing that my mom knitted for me. (It was really a work of art, but I couldn’t appreciate back then. Ok, even now, I wouldn’t want to wear it.) And of course I was in figure skates. There was definitely no hockey in SF when I was growing up!
I discovered hockey when I was in grad school in Boston. A few guys in my department asked me if I wanted to play on an intramural team. It seemed impossible to me that I could just start playing hockey! But I was lucky to be in an environment with many opportunities for beginners, and I was soon hooked.
ELEVEN YEARS LATER, and I’m still in love with this sport. I also love proselytizing about it. I’m still excited about this league because I think it’s done a fantastic job of bringing players of various skill levels together, and providing a safe space for beginners to learn about the game.
And now I’ll be on the beginner end of things as well…I’m looking forward to playing between the pipes this season!
Kristen Beyersdorff
HOCKEY…What an awesome sport! I first learned to skate on hockey skates when I was graduating high school. Slowly, through a lot of patience from those willing to teach, I learned how to play the game. I now play on the Sun Prairie RAGE Women’s hockey team. I am looking forward to picking up some skills, and meeting some people who just want to have FUN on the ice. I am impressed by how far this organization has come already, gaining membership, sponsorship and publicity. I played intramural hockey in college at Stevens Point, but that kind of hockey didn’t carry half of the enthusiasm that these players, beginners and seasoned players alike seem to have. Can’t wait to Skate!
Mark Sadowski
One of the first memories of my childhood I have is being taught to skate at a local park that froze its basketball court in the winter. I began skating almost as soon as I started walking. My father actively played hockey for a recreational league and quickly found in my sister and me a means to pass this love on. Thirteen years of my childhood were spent on the ice playing and practicing. I excelled at defense, giving the goalie a relief from the tireless work of defending the goal. Playing with my sister quickly instilled in me and everyone else we played with a sense of fairness and willingness to allow all who wanted to play the chance. In college, I was able to play for a recreational league made up of members from a power skating class.
