The U13 Female Pembina Valley Hawks are off to a good start to the 2024-25 campaign in the club’s inaugural season playing in the Hockey Winnipeg U13AA Female League. The U13AA league is the top level of competition for female hockey in the province for this age group.
The Hawks’ record of 2-4 is good for sixth place in the ten-team league.
The U13 Hawks team consists of the following players: Breelyn Bjornson (Macdonald), Casey Winkler (Carman), Tessa Pitura (Macdonald), Jessica Hague (Notre Dame), Taylor Rheault (Notre Dame), Katelyn Chanel (Notre Dame), Brielle Toupin (Notre Dame), Taliya Penner (Morden), Roselyn Vanderveen (Macdonald), Bailey Dyck (Carman), Emma Shantz (Macdonald), Collins Vrooman (Macdonald), Reese Fotheringham (Carman), Eden Lepp (Elm Creek), Abbey Hamilton (Notre Dame), Claire Dupasquier (Notre Dame). The coaching staff consists of Keith Pitura, Jesse Vanderveen, Jocelyn Toupin and Gabby Girard.
“The team has played really well against some tough competition to start out the regular season,” said head coach Keith Pitura. The games have been tight even when we’ve lost, which is good. This is also the first time that many of these players have played with each other, and they are starting to gel after about a month together.”
Coach Pitura notes that the team is getting to know each other’s tendencies on the ice and where each other will be in different situations.
“Every player brings a different skill set to the team, all of which are important, and we are working on putting those skill sets together to function as one unit or team. We are also still getting to know one another off the ice through different team-building activities.”
The team’s most important goal was to ensure they had fun while playing hockey. But they’ve also set some other goals that will hopefully lead to more success on the ice.
“This is the first time many of the players have played together on one team, so the process of getting to know one another has been a fun experience for everyone,” said Pitura. “We have set several goals for the season as a team, with the main ones being developing our skills as individual players and as a team.”
The U13 Hawks have two upcoming games this week. First up, they play on Nov. 16 (7:30 p.m.) at East End Arena against the Saints and then on Nov. 16 at Oak Bluff Arena against Interlake.
