Legacy top of mind for Raiders

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This article was published 30/11/2021 (1712 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Oak Park Raiders AAAA varsity girls hockey team is roughly a third of the way through its regular season and is finding out that progress isn’t always linear.

The Raiders alternated between wins and losses for the first four games of the season. They then lost three games in a row against some of the Winnipeg Women’s High School Hockey League’s CTV Division 1’s most formidable teams, including the undefeated Collège Jeanne-Sauvé Olympiens.

“We went into a little bit of a dip,” said team captain Kelsey Forrest.

A 2-1 victory over the Churchill Bulldogs on Nov. 23 put the team back in its groove, the 17-year-old centre said.

Louisa Ibarra-Morton, 17, anchors the Raiders’ defensive corps with a batch of Grade 9 and 10 rookies who are eager to mesh with the older athletes.

“I can see that we’re getting a lot better,” Ibarra-Morton said. “The defence — we clicked instantly, even though we’ve never played together.”

Raiders coach Rachel Cumpsty is new to the team this year. Cumpsty also teaches Grade 11 Canadian history and Grade 10 science at Oak Park.

Cumpsty grew up playing hockey and played for the Shaftesbury Titans when she was in high school. She began coaching area teams at around the same time, and even coached a nine-year-old Ibarra-Morton at Roblin Park Community Centre

The underrepresentation of women in hockey coaching stoked Cumpsty’s desire to pursue the role. She wishes there were young, female coaches on the bench when she played. She believes in karma and hopes to inspire the Raiders girls to take up coaching, too.

“When I got the job at Oak Park, I immediately asked about coaching the girls team,” Cumpsty said. “I was super-excited to find out that they needed one and that I could fill that role.”

At press time, the Raiders were in seventh place in the CTV Division 1 league with a record of 3-5-0 and six points; one point behind the Vincent Massey Trojans and four points ahead of the Beliveau Barracudas.

The Raiders’ top scorers at press time were Forrest and Kristina Peterson.

“I’m super proud of them and how much they’ve accomplished so far. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season,” Cumpsty said.

The Raiders are savouring the time they spend together as a team when not practisng or competing, as many other high school athletes have done in the wake of cancelled seasons.

“Warm-up is just a great time — to start blasting that music and get everyone connected,” Forrest said. “It’s been really fun leading the team.”

The Raiders girls are raising money for KidSport Canada and Fast and Female, a Canadian charity that supports girls in sport. Norah Eldridge, a Grade 12 left-wing forward, rattled off — by heart — a series of statistics about the financial and social barriers some young athletes face.

Eldridge encourages folks to donate at the door before games. All three players see the fundraiser as a way to leave their mark on the team, and youth sports, as graduation draws near.