The Similkameen News Leader
Sports Page
The LOCAL GIRLS STAND OUT AT JAMBOREE
Submitted by Kevin Williams
On the weekend of March 25th, four Princeton girls (Breanne Lindley, Taylor & Jacinda Esselink, and Colby Williams) traveled to Burnaby for a three day all female tournament (ages 7-13).
This is a great experience for the girls, it gives them a chance to make new friends and to have fun. As a coach in Princeton Minor Hockey it was great to compare how our coaching skills are developing the girls skills compared to other associations.
After watching three of the girls play and talking to the fourths parents it was obvious that we must be doing something right for the girls. I would say the girls are in the very top of their division for skill level. In this tournament they broke the teams into 7-11 year olds and 11-13 year olds. Taylor played with the older group that saw her hold her own very well.
Although I did not get the chance to see her play, she did score a few great goals. Her sister Jacinda led her team and was a constant factor in every game they played. I watched one game in which Jacinda scored twice in one period. Her level of play was undoubtedly one of the best for her age group.
Breanne did very well for only being in hockey for 2 years and she too proved that the development of skilled hockey players in Princeton is great.
I had the glory of coaching my daughter Colby's team this year and as I watched her play I was amazed at her skill level, which was well above the majority of girls that she played against. She led her team to three victories playing both forward and defence. She was then asked to play a fourth game with the older girls. Once again her skill level shone though.
Colby scored 5 of their 9 goals that helped lead her team to victory, which just happened to be this teams first win.
Because I was coaching Colby, I saw her score 17 goals and 10 assists in the four games she played.
All in all I think the girls had a great time and made some new friends. It is a great experience for the girls and for the parents to see how the Princeton girls fair against an all girls team. Great job to the four girls and also to the coaches who are teaching them their skills.
