When we put on our first pair of skates, we had no idea where this amazing sport would take us. We are Julia Vandyk and Shelby Wood, two hockey players from Cambridge, Ontario currently playing Division I hockey for Colgate University. Growing up practically neighbours, never once did we imagine we would be able to make our hockey dreams come true, let alone do it together. Although our roads to Colgate were not identical, there was one common factor between our two stories - the Cambridge Rivulettes. The Cambridge Rivulettes is a team coached by Geoff Haddaway in the Provincial Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), and without the team,, both of us would not be who we are or where we are today. Here are our stories: 

Julia’s Story: 

Growing up playing for the Cambridge Roadrunners I switched from being a defenseman to a goalie when I was 12 as it was always a dream of mine to follow in my dad’s footsteps. I played in Waterloo for two years before returning to Cambridge to play for the Rivulettes. I played for two years before Shelby decided to join the Rivs for my final year, after playing high school hockey together for a year. Our coach for the Rivulettes, Geoff Haddaway, who was also our calculus teacher, was able to see us play on the high school hockey team together.

Playing on the Rivs, many opportunities arose to visit schools and get in contact with many Division 1 coaches. Greg Fargo from Colgate University was the first coach to contact me in my sophomore year of high school. I was in contact with multiple other coaches and visited a couple of other Universities before deciding that Colgate was the place I was meant to play and study. I was lucky enough to receive a full athletic scholarship. In my first two years, the women’s hockey team completely changed. Going from 7 wins in the year before my class arrived, to 22 wins my freshman year, the program really changed for the better and we just keep improving as we bring in new talent and build our older players.

Shelby’s Story:

Growing up, I played both girls and boys hockey. I played for multiple organizations, including the Cambridge Roadrunners, the Cambridge Hawks, the Kitchener Lady Rangers, and finally the Oakville Hornets in grade 9. About halfway through my season with the Oakville Hornets, I was approached by Geoff Haddaway, the head coach of the Cambridge Rivulettes. Geoff was also a teacher at my high school and his classroom just happened to be directly beside my locker in grade 9. After a few conversations with Geoff, he offered me a spot on the Cambridge Rivulettes, an offer that I could not refuse. The opportunity to play for the Rivs gave me the chance to play with Julia whom I had become good friends with on our high school hockey team, represent my hometown once again, and it allowed me to play the highest level of hockey offered for girls in Ontario. However, I would soon come to discover that the Rivs was an organization that was a lot more than just a place to play minor hockey - this team provided me the opportunity to pursue my dreams in playing hockey in college.

In the fall of my first year with the Rivs, I was fortunate enough to be in contact with a few schools in the United States. Then, because Julia was already committed to Colgate University at this time, the Rivs travelled to the States to tour and play against Colgate. After playing against them, I was approached by Colgate’s head coach, Greg Fargo. After speaking to the coaches and touring the campus once again, I decided that Colgate was the school that felt like home and one where I pictured myself spending the next four years. After playing two more years with the Rivs after committing to Colgate, I have now completed my first semester and the first half of our season at Colgate University. The first few months have been nothing short of incredible and I can’t wait to see where this team and program will go in the future. 

Being on the Rivulettes really presented us with opportunities to continue playing hockey at a high level after the PWHL. The Rivs is an amazing organization that gives back to the community and builds their players to become not only great players but great people. While playing for the Rivs we gained experience with younger hockey teams, coaching and teaching, getting to know the girls, and sharing our experiences with the players. We also did many community outreach initiatives like a Breast Cancer Awareness Game and a Teddy Bear Toss where the money was donated to research and the Teddy Bears were donated to the Cambridge Hospital Children’s Ward. Having this background coming from the Rivs made it an easy transition coming to Colgate. Here at Colgate we are really involved with our community and our school. We have an annual Autism Awareness game and a Learn to Skate program that involves teaching special needs children to skate. Throughout the athletic community at Colgate we participate in a program called Adopt a Classroom, where a couple of athletes go to Sherburne Elementary School and help young students in the classroom multiple times throughout the year. We also participate in an annual Phone-A-Thon where we contact Colgate Alumni to try and raise money for our athletic programs. 

Throughout our hockey careers, we both have believed in one thing. We each believe that it is important to play for a team that is not only interested in developing good hockey players, but also good people. We are both proud of the logos on the jerseys that we wore and currently wear. In our opinion, you will not find programs that prepare you and set examples better than the Cambridge Rivulettes and Colgate University. We are extremely thankful for these opportunities that brought us together as teammates and made us into the players and people we are today. We may have left the Rivulettes, and will one day leave Colgate, but the teammates, coaches, and experiences will never leave us. 

Once a Riv, always a Riv

Wherever you go, go Gate

Julia Vandyk & Shelby Wood

February 2018