Breaking the ice

[Rock]

Breaking the ice

http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=e...2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2

(I'm not sure this belongs in Hell, if the other Admins feel it belongs in another forum, it's OK with me.)

Friday, March 4, 2005

By DAN ROSEN

STAFF WRITER

The only clue was the wisps of blond hair that curled out from the bottom of the hockey helmet.

The skating didn't give the truth away, the motion was fluid, compact and strong. A freshman wasn't supposed to handle the puck with such flair either. At only 14 years old and enlarged by layers of pads, the 5-foot-7 player looked like everyone else on the ice.

But when Brooke Ammerman, playing her first varsity game for Pascack Valley in December, was about to break into the clear for a glorious scoring opportunity, the defenseman did what he needed to do to avoid being beaten.

Out went his leg. Their knees collided. Ammerman went down.

"I knew I shouldn't be playing with the guys because it's not as fun," Ammerman later said. "It's all about hitting, not as much passing and teamwork."

Ammerman suffered a deep bone bruise and was inches away from tearing her ACL. She stopped playing with boys. There was no benefit, no reason to risk a future that could include a college scholarship and a place in the USA Hockey program.

Without a girls varsity league in New Jersey, the other dozen or so females competing in North Jersey high school hockey continue to play with and against boys because they enjoy the challenge.

However, their ice time is limited because coaches remain wary of putting a female into a physical game, and there have been instances of aggressive behavior.

"Personally, I don't really understand it," said Pascack Valley coach Bruce Palmeiri, who had two girls in the program this season despite losing Ammerman. "I have girls who can play, but if we're playing a team that believes in physical play, I'm never going to put them in harm's way. Why jeopardize their chance to play collegiately?"

After suffering a near-devastating injury, Ammerman felt the same way.

She's being monitored by several Division I college coaches while playing with the New Jersey Colonials 16-U, a Tier 1 girls club team for which she has 49 goals and 35 assists in 34 games. She was selected to play last year at the USA Hockey Festival, where she was rated one of the nation's top five forwards in her age group.

"She is getting the most exposure at the women's level, and realized that the boys competition is only counterproductive because of the fear of injury," said her father, Bert Ammerman, the principal at Demarest High School.

Bert Ammerman still doesn't believe it was a cheap shot that resulted in Brooke's injury.

"Just a fluke thing," he said. "Maybe the kid panicked and that's hockey."

Whether a fluke or foul, Pascack Valley sophomore defenseman Becky Heim took notice. Heim, who also plays for the Colonials and has collegiate aspirations, knows she's a target because of her gender.

"I do find that sometimes the boys will shy away from me because I'm a girl, but then again you'll always have that one guy," Heim said. "My friend even told me that if he were playing, he would hit a girl as hard as he could because he wouldn't want a girl beating him."

In girls hockey, checking is not allowed. Only incidental contact is permitted. In boys hockey, hitting is not only allowed, it's encouraged. Especially at the high school level, where the talent doesn't always match the bravado, the play can get chippy and players are subject to injury.

It's why the girls receive limited ice time.

"It has nothing to do with their skill," Palmeiri said. "Some parents think their kid can handle a little more, but I'm the coach and I'd be the one that would have to pick them up off the ice."

Clifton coach Tom Danko, who coaches senior Danielle Soloman, admits to worrying when she's on the ice.

"She gets the same treatment as everybody else on the team, but do I cringe?" Danko said. "Sometimes, because a game can get out of hand and now I'm just looking at someone taking a run at her because she's a girl."

Soloman, who has been playing with the boys since fourth grade, said she was a target last year in a JV game.

"The whistle had blown, the game was over and someone took a run at me for no reason," she said. "I was just standing there. We had won, so I had no reason to fight him back. If I was a guy, that would never happen."

Tenafly coach Andy Escala thinks differently than most. He said he doesn't fear injury to a girl just because she's a girl. "I worry about any of my players if they aren't in the right position," Escala said.

Escala, though, has extensive experience coaching girls. He's had at least one girl on his roster for all six of his seasons at Tenafly. He used to coach Allison Liati, who is a senior defenseman for Middlebury College, which won the NCAA Division III championship last year. Liati also played on a club team coached by Ridgewood coach Larry Mahurter.

Mahurter brought his club team, the New Jersey Selects, to various showcase tournaments to play in front of college coaches. It's how "95 percent of the team" went on to play college hockey, he said. "If you're a girl that wants to play collegiate hockey, you want to be on a highly competitive travel team or for a prep school."

Unlike in Minnesota, where 124 schools have girls teams, there are only two public schools in New Jersey - Summit and Princeton - with enough girls to field a team. Princeton, Princeton Day, Morristown-Beard and Pingry play in the Mid-Atlantic Girls Prep Hockey League. Lawrenceville and Stuart Day also field teams.

If a female hockey player wants to play for her high school, she has to play with the boys.

"I don't know how the boys like it," said Janet Troy, whose daughter is Tenafly senior Elizabeth Tremble. "I don't know that it is well received."

River Dell senior Jason McDermott, who said he never played with a girl on the varsity level, said having a female teammate wouldn't be an issue with him.

"I say more power to her," McDermott said. "Some guys may mind if they're jerks and think it's a man's sport, but we play because we love it and so do they. If the girl loves it, she should be allowed to play."

"Playing with the guys made me more aggressive and faster," Brooke said. "When I was little, it was a challenge."

Now, Brooke challenges herself against the best female competition at her age group. College coaches are watching, and with exposure like that, it's no wonder why the risk of playing with the boys isn't worth it.

[Darwindog]

I think she's pretty neat to be in that world of hockey and still be able to be all wuss and Mario-like. I mean that too -- I'd be a fool - I'd get myself killed trying to be a guy. It just wouldn't occur to me that I had any other option.