PHOTO COURTESY MHC INSTAGRAM
The 2023-24 Medicine Hat College Rattlers' women's hockey team poses in their new jerseys and gear ahead of the programs inaugural season which gets underway Saturday.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
A game that seemed so far away is right in front of the Medicine Hat College Rattlers women’s hockey team.
The newly formed team is set to host the inaugural home opener Saturday evening as they enter the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference as a first-year program. The Rattlers host the NAIT Ooks at the Moose Rec Centre, with a 7:45 p.m. start for the first regular season game in team history. They also host the SAIT Trojans on Sunday for a 4:15 p.m. game.
Head coach Chad Baron says there’s a lot of excitement around the team to get things started.
“We figured some things out about ourselves in Lakeland and those exhibition games, so we’ve improved upon some things and we’ve been working hard getting ready,” Baron said. “It’s a tough test for us, for sure, they have a good team out there, defending champs and all in the first game.
“But we’re looking forward to getting to see the rest of the league and how far we’ve come in the last couple of weeks of practice here.”
The Rattlers faced off against the Lakeland College Rustlers, who are also entering their first year in the ACAC, in mid-September for two exhibition games, losing 10-0 and 2-0. The biggest takeaway Baron had from those games, was how hard they will have to work this season.
“We’ve really been working hard on some of that, just moving quickly and working under pressure, trying to make the right decisions,” Baron said. “We’ve learned it, we have good compete level, we have good battle. We didn’t do so well the first game and we were a totally different team the second day. So that’s all a matter of the level that we’re giving.”
Last academic year, the Rattlers participated in an exhibition season, playing against teams in the ACAC as well as other clubs in southern Alberta. The decision from the ACAC came May 31 and represents the first time MHC has offered a women’s hockey program and the first time a hockey team of any kind has competed in the city at the collegiate level since the 1986-87 season.
Baron was on the coaching staff for the Rattlers exhibition staff, splitting coaching duties with Terry Ballard, MHC’s manager of Athletics and Recreation.
Ballard, who has been working behind the scenes to get the home opener ready, says there’s a buzz around the college community ahead of the weekend.
“We’re looking forward to having a good crowd out,” Ballard said. “A lot of parents are going to be attending, a lot of community members have been asking about it and a lot of staff members were looking forward to that. There are some competing things in the community but hopefully we’ll find our own niche as we go along.
“The other part is it’s a long weekend, so there’s going to be a lot of students who go home, which is fine, but the ones who stay will be treated to pretty good environments and we’re looking forward to introducing these young women to the community.”
Last season the Rattlers played in black practice jerseys with the snakehead logo on the front. Ahead of the home opener, they’ve received official yellow and black jerseys with matching gloves and goalie gear.
The ability to get those jerseys and the official look comes from the school team partnering with the Calgary Flames Foundation, which pledged $37,500 to help sustain and enhance the first-year program.
Some of the donation will be for new equipment, like a soon-to-be-purchased skate sharpener, new gear and upgrades to the dressing room. A portion of the funding will also provide support to student athletes in the form of financial awards. It’s funding Ballard says could continue in the future if they honour their commitment of being a professional organization and supporting women in sports.
Ballard says they identified the lack of opportunity for female hockey players above the U18 level and are honoured they now have an available option.
“We’ve heard many, many stories about young women who have played minor hockey all their life in the city and then at a certain age, they have to either quit or leave the city,” Ballard said. “That shouldn’t be an option, they should be able to stay here and play.
“So we’re hoping to fulfil that role at this level. At the same time, between that age gap between 10 and 11 to 18, we’re going to work really hard with the local community to establish little girls hockey programs, maybe even use the Rattler name for some of those programs.”
The Rattlers held a U13 and U11 girls hockey camp in the summer and both filled up quickly, Ballard says.
“If we continue to do those things and offer more camps, more girls stay in this sport and then we can populate this team maybe with 20 Medicine Hat, college players,” Ballard said.
