Anna McKilligan, Sports Contributor
Editor’s Note: Anna McKilligan has played for the past three years on the Dalhousie women’s soccer team.
To most, the Dalhousie women’s soccer team doesn’t mean a whole lot. To some, we’re those annoying girls who kick you off Wickwire every night from 5–7 p.m. For those who live in Eliza Ritchie or Sheriff Halls, we’re the reason you get woken up many Saturdays and Sundays with loud warm-up music. But for me, being part of this team means much more.
We’re friends and teammates, but really we’re a group of athletes brought together by one goal: an AUS banner followed by a CIS championship. From stepping on the field as a first year, the countdown begins. Every player wants those titles, and knows they only have four or five years of eligibility to do it.
This season, the Dalhousie women’s team is graduating six players. Six young women who have made the decision to return year after year. Although these women may not have a banner to boast their accomplishments as members of the team, I’d like to give a small glance into the impact these girls have made over the course of four or five years.
The top five teams in AUS have the chance to win an AUS title and banner (check out the Dalplex the next time you’re there; Dal have won quite a few). The winning team goes to national championships to play against the top teams in the country.
After visiting one of these banners which hang on the side of the Dalplex gym, many may wonder, what’s the big deal about a white piece of cloth with some funny blue tassels? Those banners are pieces of varsity history. Call any athlete present or past who won one of those elusive pieces of fabric and they would all remember every second of the game, match, or race they won to get it.
Stepping on to the Wickwire in August with the team, that banner was the only thing on every player’s mind. That banner is the reason behind every tackle, every pass and every goal we made.
After finishing first overall in AUS and then losing in the second round of the playoffs for two consecutive seasons, it’s easy to overlook the amazing things our team achieved. These are the things that aren’t awarded with a banner.
Kim Hardy, Katie Richard, Kate MacDonald, Amanda Henry, Sarah Mitchell and Jeanette Huck all graduate after playing four or five years as a varsity soccer player. On top of their responsibilities as university athletes, these girls graduate from four different faculties. Kate, Amanda and Sarah all finished their undergraduate degrees in kinesiology. Sarah is now in graduate school here at Dalhousie for physiotherapy. Jeanette finishes as a graduate of commerce, and Kim as a biology major.
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Kim Hardy is without a doubt one of the toughest players I know. Coming onto the soccer team five years ago as a walk on, she started out at a slight disadvantage, as many players in AUS are recruited. However, Kim has never met an obstacle she couldn’t overcome. Beginning her career as a forward, dabbling in goal, and ending up as a centre defender, Kim can and will play any position on the field.
To be a goaltender all you really need to be able to do is stand in the net with two functional arms and legs (granted, this would not be the best goaltender). Kim Hardy would argue otherwise. When she stepped in to play goalie for her summer club team in the championship game of 2009, Kim played an entire 45 minutes with a broken arm. The final score of that game favoured Kim’s team; she didn’t allow a single goal.
Hardy by name and hardy by nature, Kim graduates as a Tiger through and through.
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As with most varsity sports, soccer is a huge commitment. Being a member of the soccer team means balancing a university curriculum with a short but intense season of competition while trying to fit some kind of a social life in the mix. However, being a member of a team is a great way to meet new people at university and for first year students soccer presents an opportunity to learn balance and be welcomed by fellow student-athletes to show you the ropes.
Or at least that’s what it says in the brochure.
What comes along with this is a pretty steep and shocking learning curve. Balance, sleep, drive: it doesn’t come easy. Pushing yourself physically to the limits to represent your school week after week in your sport of choice along with getting up the energy to attend huge (and at times tedious) lectures after peeling yourself off of a four and a half hour bus trip, it is without a doubt a true test of character.
Although, looking at players like Sarah Mitchell, this commitment to sport and university education seems like a breeze.
After graduating with a degree in kinesiology from St. Francis Xavier, Sarah Mitchell was accepted into the Dalhousie physiotherapy graduate degree program. Sarah played on the soccer team at St. FX for all four years of her undergrad and achieved great success as a player and a student. However, coming out of those four years she wasn’t quite ready to throw in the towel. She had already won an AUS banner as a member of the St. FX team, and had finished her degree program. To most people, this would be a fantastic way to end a career as a varsity athlete. But not for Sarah, she wasn’t done yet.
And so she joined the Dalhousie soccer team this past season. To say she fit in like a dirty shirt would be a complete understatement. After the first few practices, it felt like Sarah had been a Tiger from the very beginning.
Sarah is a warrior through and through. If the ball is turned over to the other team as a result of a decision she made, there is no doubt that she will run that girl down, and make her sorry she ever challenged Dalhousie possession. On top of her athletic talent, Sarah is hilarious and was a highly valued member of our team this year. Sarah Mitchell is an outstanding athlete and finished her five years with unwavering drive and passion.
Following a season of soccer and school day after day for months comes the big decision: do you go back for a second round? Every year brings a new demand academically as well as a body with an increasingly good memory for bumps and bruises. And under CIS rules, you can do it for five years!
For most of the girls I’ve had the pleasure of meeting through soccer, this answer comes easily enough, of course. The thrill of thriving as a student athlete is immeasurable, and the hunger to have your team immortalized in a title or a banner will never go away.
Katie Richard is this desire personified: a little girl with a lot of energy, attitude, and above all, heart. Katie suffered a very serious back injury late in the 2009 season, but after losing to St. FX in the semi-finals that year, a fire was lit inside of little Rich and there was no way she wasn’t coming back for another season with the team.
Katie came back with a vengeance, and set her sights on revenge.
She’s the fastest girl in the AUS, and scored one of the cheekiest goals this year that the league has ever seen against our arch-rivals, St. FX.
After beating two St. FX defenders with her lightning speed, it came down to Rich and the goaltender. Blowing down the field, I thought she was going to dribble to the net and take the keeper on one-on-one. So when she started to slow down near the top of the box, I was definitely a little confused. However, little Rich took everyone by surprise when she released an awesome chip falling right underneath the crossbar. Rich is spunky and tenacious. Playing with her was a blast.
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On top of playing a varsity sport and keeping up with a high level of academics there are those athletes among us who take their involvement with the school a step further and become an active part of the varsity community at Dalhousie. This community is run and organized by the Varsity Student Council. The council organizes fundraising events and initiatives within varsity sport.
Each team has a representative who gives up time every week to meet with the other representatives on the council and make sure the varsity interests are accounted for within the wider student community. Our team representative is Amanda Henry.
Amanda graduates from Dalhousie after playing four years as a Tiger. She has sat on council for the past two years and will sacrifice the little free time she has already to volunteer at numerous events throughout the year.
She commands the Tigers’ backline from her spot in centre defence. A dominant voice on the field, Amanda demands focus and effort from the players surrounding her. Tall, strong, and determined, Amanda Henry is a force to be reckoned with and (as I can say from experience) being on the other side of her tackle is not a pleasant place to be. A born competitor and a tough as nails soccer player, Amanda would make any university proud.
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This year, Jeanette Huck and Kate “Nugget” MacDonald took on the responsibility of leading the team. In the role of co-captains, these girls are expected to organize team events, make meal plans on road trips and still be available for any of the players if they have questions or concerns.
On top of all that, a captain has to earn their spot as an athlete. Glancing at our team statistics this is clearly not a problem for Jeanette and Kate. They lead the team in points with Jeanette boasting six goals and Nugget three. Keep in mind neither of these players are forwards. In fact, Jeanette is generally our starting right defender. On paper, these two are without a doubt captain material.
What the stats don’t show are the pep talks, unwavering encouragement and support Jeanette and Kate bring to the team.
Rewind to Sept. 26, 2010. Our team is in Sackville visiting the Mount Allison Mounties. Judging by our perfect record versus the Mounties’ much less than perfect record, this game should have been an easy win for us.
Unfortunately, coming out of the first half, we’re down 1–0. We still had a lot of energy, and we were ready to change our formation back to one we had dominated the previous game with. As we walked back to the bench, Nugget stood up and took charge.
“I don’t know what’s going on out there right now girls, but we’ve got to figure it out. I don’t care how we do it, but it has got to be better.”
There’s no doubt in my mind that every girl on our team wanted to win that day, but sport is not that simple. Our passes weren’t connecting and it seemed as though we just weren’t on the same wavelength that day. The frustration and panic was slowly building as the time ticked on and our play was getting steadily worse.
We were going to need some magic to finish the game on top. At that point Nugget lifted our team on her shoulders, scoring two amazing, practically self-assisted goals to give us the win.
Kate would never take no for an answer, and she loves to win: that’s a captain.
Jeanette Huck is one of the most competitive people I have ever met. I can say with great confidence that given the choice between being on Jeanette’s team or against her, I don’t know one person who would willingly choose to play against her.
In the second to last game of our 2010 season, our team suffered a devastating 1–0 loss to Memorial which cost us our perfect season.
Jeanette had to sit out of that match, but was in the team room at halftime to offer some words of wisdom and was clearly anxious to get back on the pitch for the next game. The next day, we faced the Seahawks again. Inside the first ten minutes, Jeanette had hammered a killer shot to beat the Newfoundland goalkeeper.
She sent a clear message to our opponents that day: you can beat us, but be ready to face the consequences. Jeanette is a fighter and demands the best from her team game in and game out.
These six girls have done amazing things for our team as well as the varsity community here at Dalhousie.
Now, excuse me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think all these accomplishments would even fit on a banner.
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