Completing their final stretches and slap shots, 19 hockey players skate toward the blue line for the national anthem. Removing their helmets and turning to the flag, only two ponytails flowed onto the Griffins’ jerseys.
While hockey in the state of Michigan has particularly been a male dominant sport over the last decade, two freshman girls coming from different hockey backgrounds joined the team at the end of the fall.
Freshman Natalie Miller had never skated with the boys. Aside from trying the sport at her younger brother’s practice a few years ago, Miller had only played on girls hockey teams. Playing on smaller teams for her first few years of hockey, she eventually worked her way to the highest level in girls hockey. Miller played for Compuware, a triple A team out of Plymouth.
“My next door neighbor always put up a rink when we were younger,” Miller said. “His son was a goalie so I tried it over there and I liked it. My parents really helped me get into it as well. I volunteered in my brother’s league and I liked it, so I stuck with goalie. My uncle played in college but couldn’t continue because he had too many concussions. I’m the first one who actually has gone pretty far with hockey.”
On the other hand, Miller’s teammate comes from a different hockey background. Fellow freshman Eryn Isaacson also started skating on a backyard ice rink, but it was her dad who got her out of the figure skates and into a pair of hockey skates.
“I started out skating on figure skates and that’s what I learned to skate in,” Isaacson said. “My dad had some friends over to play hockey and he pulled out some sticks and pucks for me to use. After seeing me play, he thought I was pretty good and I thought the sport was interesting so I got on a team.”
While Isaacson had opportunities to play on girls teams, she always chose to play with the boys.
“Kensington Valley Hockey Association has other girls teams, but I have always played on boys teams,” Isaacson said. “I played on a girls team last spring, but the competition wasn’t as great and it was a disaster. It is fun playing on the boys team because there is less drama, I learn a lot more and there is better competition. You can hit in boys hockey but not in girls so playing with them has made me a better player overall.”
Playing in all girls programs for her first four years of hockey, Miller eventually transferred over to a boys house program out of Lakeland in order to get used to playing with guys because she wanted to play for the high school team her freshman year.
“I love being on the guys team because we are a lot closer than I thought we would get,” Miller said. “The guys are much more protective, almost like big brothers to me. Being a goalie, if the other team tried to mess with me, I would have a team of 17 guys coming at whoever tried to mess with me.”
Isaacson had played with or against a lot of the boys on the team, but for Miller, all of her teammates were just classmates before the season. The same holds true for the relationship between Isaacson and Miller. The two had gone to school together since first grade but never had the opportunity to become close friends.
“Natalie and I had talked before in middle school about hockey, but we never were close friends,” Isaacson said. “Being on the same team has brought us closer. Playing on the same team as her throughout high school will make us better teammates.”
Head varsity hockey coach Jeff Mynatt has only been a part of the Fenton program three seasons. He coached Hanna Fremd, a goalie at Linden, a few years ago but has never coached a girl who played for the Fenton/Linden co-op. Along with having a co-ed team, Mynatt has had to adapt to coaching a team filled with underclassman.
“We have three seniors on the team, which means I have 16 underclassman,” Mynatt said. “I am seeing a lot more confidence in younger players. It took some of them a few games to get acquainted with the speed and size of opponents who are up to four years older than them.”
Although only freshmen, it did not take Miller and Isaacson long to get acquainted with their competition and begin impacting the squad.
“Eryn is too smart and skilled to not make a difference with our forward lines in the near future,” Mynatt said. “She is a solid skater, has decent hands (puck control) and is rarely out of position. Natalie works hard and gets better every practice. With three goalies on the roster, Natalie brings an extra edge to competing for the starting spot. She works hard and it is starting to show. She has a lot of potential and is making the most of it.”
Playing on a varsity athletic team can be a daunting experience for any freshman, but being the only two girls on the team can be a challenge in itself.
“As far as interaction with the team, they interact like most freshmen do when playing a varsity sport,” Mynatt said. “They are fairly quiet, but as we get further into the season, I am starting to see them come out of their shell. The only difference that I notice or even think about is the fact that they dress in a different locker room, which is no big deal. Otherwise, they are teammates just like everyone else.”