Liberty University Club Sports Athletics
Girls' hockey camp numbers reflect rise in interest in sport throughout Southeast
8/10/2023 2:08:00 PM | Women's D1 Hockey, Women's D2 Hockey
More than 50 girls' hockey players in the U12, U14, and U16 age groups participated in last month's three-day camp at the LaHaye Ice Center.
Players and coaches from Liberty University's ACHA Division I and II women's hockey teams helped run the July 9-11 girls' session of this summer's Liberty Hockey Camps at the LaHaye Ice Center (LIC), which drew more than 50 players in the U12, U14, and U16 age groups.
"The camp was really exciting this year," said Josh Graham, who serves as DI women's hockey assistant coach and Club Sports spiritual development coordinator. "We had a really talented group. It was also our biggest group that we had for girls, so it's been neat to see the girls camp growing every year and getting to see all of the returning girls. Seeing them grow up and improve every year, and just developing those relationships, is a lot of fun."
DII women's hockey sophomore defenseman Katrina Walhof had plenty of opportunities to engage with the players on the ice as well as in the dorms, serving the overnight campers as a residential counselor.
"I really enjoyed everything, just getting to know the girls on and off the ice, especially as one of the residential counselors, spending a little extra time with them at the dorms," she said. "I really enjoyed the scrimmage because I ended up actually going out there and playing with them, so not just to watch them on the ice but to get to interact with them both on and off the ice."
Graham said the camp was an opportunity to showcase Liberty's state-of-the-art facilities, especially in and around the LIC.
"We're very blessed, obviously, at Liberty to have the resources that we have, so for girls to be able to experience a really high-caliber facility and be able to use the Rapid Shot booth (in the Liberty Club Sports Complex), to have quality strength and conditioning training, work on their stick handling, the dressing rooms that we have in the facility, and also utilizing other areas of campus as well," he said.
Campers' activities were not solely focused on hockey, as they tried their hands at other sports and spent plenty of time growing spiritually as well as physically.
"We also played beach volleyball one night and just had other opportunities to get to know each other," Walhof said. "One of those was small groups and chapel every day, which was just a really good opportunity to use hockey not only as something that we love, but also in the way of ministry to them."
Piper Priem, a junior forward on the Lady Flames Division II hockey team, said the summer experience was new to her.
"I'm from Arizona and there's not very much girls' hockey out there, so an opportunity like this is pretty cool to see just how many younger girls are really interested in the sport and how much it is growing," she said. "When I was in high school or middle school, to be able to stay on a college campus and play hockey at the same time would have been really cool. Obviously, to experience playing in LaHaye is pretty cool, but just to experience everything else that Liberty has to offer, too."
Priem said the excitement of staying and playing on Liberty's campus translated onto the ice, with plenty of enthusiasm for drills led by Graham and DI women's Head Coach Chris Lowes and high competition and intensity levels throughout the final-day tournament.
"From Day 1, they all were really energetic," she said. "Even though there were multiple ice sessions a day, they would come back the second one and still have a lot of energy."
Graham said the bump in participation in the camp is a reflection of the rise in popularity in the sport throughout the Southeastern United States.
"We've seen the growth in women's hockey tremendously in the last 10-15 years, and with the growth of our women's camps," he said. "Last year, we had 40-some, we've been hovering in the 40s, and all of our camps have seen tremendous growth this year. This year was a record-setting year with well over 300 athletes coming to our camps, so hockey's growing, specifically in the South. The NHL's had a lot to do with that. Carolina spends a great deal pouring into their communities, and Florida has done a really good job with it, and so has Nashville, so it's neat to see that women's hockey is growing in this part of the country."
Video by Patrick Strawn/Club Sports Director of Video & Media
