The Pembina Valley U18 AAA Female Hawks have started their preseason, and early on, Head Coach Matt Victor says the group is building an identity he and the players will be proud of.
Building the Hawks
"It's been exciting," Victor says with a grin. "We built our team at tryouts in early August, and we shutdown for a little bit, we had some players playing in the U15 softball nationals in Winkler. We fired up after that, got some practices in, and I really like what we've built so far, and the group we have."
Already, there's an area that stands out for Victor. "Our identity this year is really around grit and compete," he says proudly. "We built our team around that this year, and that identity is going to give us success throughout the season. It's something that each of them can control, it's a controllable for them, and we're not asking for a specific skill with that, but it's something they can control. I think it'll give us success with the buy in, that confidence, and trust within themselves and with the team. I really believe that will lead to success going forward."
Mix of vets and rookies
Roster wise, it's a very interesting year, and according to Victor, there's a mix of veteran presence and new players to the program. "We have nine newcomers this year, so we're split right down the middle," the coach says with a chuckle. "The nice thing is that a few years ago, I coached the U15 AAA Hawks, so I was able to build relationships with those players. Building those thorough that program, now they're here, so it's nice in the way that onboarding will be quicker with vocabulary and how I operate. I think it'll all happen very quickly, and I'm very excited to see the growth they had last year, and what they'll do this year."
Letting leaders lead
With there being such a heavy mix, Victor says that he will depend on the returning players to lead the way both on and off the ice. "A belief that I have is, the coaching staff sets the standard at the start. It goes to our identity, we want to set the standard, how our environment is going to run, and you kind of hand it off to the players. As coaches, we're hear to guide them and mentor them through that, but the ultimate goal is to push that into the room, allow them to manage themselves, drive each other, and keep each other accountable. That's our goal and our plan for this year. I think a lot of teams operate that way, and it's easier said than done, but that's kind of the right way. They drive the team and that's what we want to see going forward."
Building forever friendships
Playing AAA hockey is a bond that many players seem to keep well into life, something Victor is aware of, and already seeing in his group. "It's everything," he says about those relationships forming. "Every year our team changes, so the goal is to build better people, build relationships, whether that's coach to player, or player to player, those relationships are huge. It's fun to watch that grow. It's amazing to see ex-players down the road that, they are still hanging out with each other. Many have become best friends. That's the goal for us, hockey can be a short sprint, but it can be a lifetime of memories and relationships that can build through these programs. It's very important, and cool to see."
Coming Together
The Hawks took part in the 'Coming Together' initiative this past weekend, something that Victor says was special for the organization. "It was a great initiative with our parent group and our team on Saturday night. You never want to see anybody, especially a young, talented hockey player go through what Payton (Chornley) is going through. When we had the chance to support her, and Cancer Care Foundation, we did not question it one bit. We jumped in with two feet for her and that foundation. I'm very proud of our group, our parent group and the people who bought into our 50/50. Same with Eastman (on Sunday), super proud of the commitment to that. It means a lot and we all feel for the Chornley family."
Special events upcoming
The U18 AAA Female Hawks have some big events coming up, and Victor is looking forward to see how his team stacks up against some great talent. "We had two games this weekend, two exhibition games, so we're excited to get some video going, really start teaching. It's September, so it's about learning. We'll have a couple practices this week, and then we're off to the Central Plains Showcase this weekend, which is really exciting, we'll have four games there. Before we get into regular season, our group is going down to Fargo to play the North Dakota State teams, they have a 19U and 16U team, so we go to Fargo and play them. The competition is great, and it kind of gets us ready and fired up for regular season. Super excited for that, excited to see the progress, and keeping the girls on the program here, just following our process. Very excited for the next couple of weeks here before our regular season."