Photo credit: Michelle Graham, Focus Sport Fotos

 

"Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness, heart, talent, guts. That's what little girls are made of."

                                                            - Bethany Hamilton, professional surfer, author and shark attack survivor

 

 

Geoff Haddaway, the present-day coach of the Cambridge Rivulettes, will have mixed feelings about this column.

 

On one hand, Haddaway will like the fact that it highlights the inspiring history of the then-Preston Rivulettes of the depression-riddled 1930s - a team that dominated women's ice hockey in a fashion similar to the Edmonton Grads women's basketball team. (More on that comparison later)

 

 He will also like that this column will shine some light on his current Rivulettes team, their hard-working players and on women's hockey in general - especially at the local level.

 

On the other hand, Coach Haddaway (or "Hads" as he is sometimes referred to by those more familiar) will not like the fact that he is included, let alone highlighted to some degree, in this team's ongoing storyline.

 

Haddaway is nothing if not modest when it comes to focusing on himself or his considerable hockey coaching accomplishments.

 

Sorry, Hads - I know that at home games, you get the privilege of last line change but in this arena, that privilege belongs to me.

 

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At the risk of sounding cliché (too late), let's begin at the beginning.

 

On the sunny but soon-to-be cloudy (economically-speaking) ball diamonds of small town Preston, Ont., a group of young and very gifted female athletes was looking for something sporting to do with their time in the approaching winter months of 1930.

 

The core of the group was made up of two pairs of siblings, Hilda and Nellie Ranscombe and the Schmuck sisters, Helen and Marm. Together they decided that forming a hockey team would go a long way towards filling that void so that's what they did - despite running into a number of roadblocks.

 

Overt and blatant sexism topped the list of roadblocks (e.g. - a male eavesdropper at the park that day uttered various "Girls don't play hockey"-type of condescending comments) as well as a lack of funding, a lack of ice time at a reasonable hour for female players (I mentioned the sexism, right?), a lack of precedent, a lack of experience, a lack of general support, a lack of…well, you get the idea.

 

One thing these young women and soon-to-be trailblazers did not lack, however, was persistence and determination.

 

The gals heard that a well-known sports writer from the Toronto Daily Star was staying in town at the Kress House Hotel. Her name was Alexandrine Gibb and she had a regular column in the Star that focused exclusively on women's sports called "No Man's Land Of Sport".

 

Gibb told them all about the Ladies Ontario Hockey Association, encouraged them to join it (which they did) and suggested they seek some assistance, financial and otherwise, from a local business interest.

 

So with help from Karl Homuth, a local M.P., they got some start-up money and found a coach, albeit a reluctant one who himself struggled with the idea of women playing hockey.

 

His name was Herb Fach and he was manager of the Lowther Street Arena. His position there didn't solve the problem of lousy ice times for the gals but it sometimes didn't hurt. And in time, Fach evolved from hesitant volunteer to committed coach, advocate and curmudgeonly cheerleader, so to speak.

 

A manager named Roy Osgood soon followed as did chaperones* Molly Hanlon and Beatrice Collard and enough interested players - with little or no experience, mind you - to field a team of nine.

(* - keep in mind the time period, the travel, and that some of the players were still teens)

 

And so it began - a groundbreaking team was born; a future dynasty was taking its first small steps; and a legendary sports team from the 519 came to be.

 

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The entire story of the Preston Rivulettes is captured in a quick-read book titled Queens Of The Ice (I borrowed a copy from Haddaway) by author Carly Adams, a sports historian at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta.

 

It is also currently being told on stage at the Hamilton Family Theatre in Cambridge in the form of a play called "Glory" (written and choreographed by Tracey Power and directed by James MacDonald) - a production I felt privileged to see last Friday evening with a group of friends.

 

(Side note: I'm a big fan of the theatre - especially anything my old high school pal Alex Mustakas and his Drayton Entertainment team brings to our area.

However,  I am not a theatre critic so let's just say that all six of us thoroughly enjoyed it and if you'd like another opinion, check out Valerie Hill's review in the Waterloo Region Record from May 17.)

 

For a more detailed account of all things Preston Rivulettes, I would suggest either locating a copy of Adams' book, treating yourself to an evening of good theatre (there's a variety of dates at various Drayton-run theatres this summer) or perusing the web sites of the Cambridge Sports Hall of Fame or the Waterloo Region Hall of Fame, into which both the team and Hilda Ranscombe have been inducted.

 

The Coles Notes version of the team's accomplishments read like this:

 

- they won 10 consecutive provincial championships. No Ontario team ever beat them.

 

- they also won 10 Eastern Canadian titles and captured 6 Dominion ones.

 

- their home crowds drew large crowds, often larger than the local men's teams, and there were       parades held in their honour in the streets of Preston.

 

- although no exact numbers are known, it is estimated that they won an amazing 350+ games with only two losses and a tie, for a winning percentage better than 99%.

The aforementioned Edmonton Grads (1915-1940), another remarkable Canadian women's sports team, had an estimated victory rate of 95%.

 

Even present-day Rivulettes were impressed with both the production and the full story of their namesakes when they saw it as a team on opening night.

 

"It's really an inspiring story about the journey of women in the hockey world," commented Tori Verbeek, who's off to play for the national champion Guelph Gryphons next year. "I'm so proud to be a player and a member of the Riv’s family today."

 

Teammate Aly McLeod, who's committed to St. Lawrence University, echoed a similar sentiment:

“After watching Glory, I feel honoured to play for a team where it all started for women’s hockey. Watching the play allowed me to understand the adversity those women faced, for not only our organization but women’s hockey in general. I feel like as a team and organization we need to continue their legacy.” 

 

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Meanwhile, back in present-day Cambridge, and more specifically Preston High School, sits a hockey coach extraordinaire disguised as the quasi-Clark Kent of the mathematics department.

 

When Hads and I met at Moose Winooski's a few weeks ago to pound back a few Diet Cokes (not kidding) and talk about all things hockey and Rivulettes, he went to great lengths to emphasize that this story wasn't at all about him and that the focus should be entirely on the Preston Rivulettes of old and/or the Cambridge Rivulettes of now.

 

And he certainly didn't want any attention given to his own playing career ("I was good but not great" he says) let alone his stellar coaching record. I coyly assured him that that wouldn't happen knowing full well that I would most certainly break that promise.

 

As it turns out, you only need about a round-and-a-half of Diet Coke to understand just how much this man loves coaching.

 

You can see it in his eyes. You can hear it in his voice. You can feel it in his presence.

 

Whether as assistant coach or head man. In the minor hockey system or the school system. Males or females. Young or old. Underdog or top dog. It doesn't matter.

 

If Hads is coaching a team, there are three things I will guarantee:

 

i) that team will learn and learn a lot.

That's what good teachers do - they find a way to help others learn.

I don't care if it's trigonometry or tiddlywinks, a master teacher can teach almost anything to almost anyone.

 

ii) that team will improve.

This seems obvious given my first point but there is a fine line between implementation and actual execution.

Haddaway has found a way to make things happen and his end results are proof of that.

Whether it's a WCSSAA championship at PHS or two Cherry Cups/one Sutherland Cup with the Elmira Sugar Kings, Haddaway's teams simply get better.

They don't always come out on top - but during the course of the season, they will improve.

 

iii) those players, male or female, will become better citizens in the process.

"We're more than just hockey players" he often tells his teams. And like a lot of top notch coaches, he sees the end goal as more than just a won-loss record or more than just a trophy.

 

For him, it's about people. It's about relationships. It's about facing adversity head on and then figuring out a way to move forward.

 

In short, it's about finding out what your made of and what you're capable of.

 

Hmmm…why does that sound so familiar (?), I thought to myself, as the next round of colas hit the table.

 

And that's when it hit me.

 

Geoff Haddaway, who was born and raised in Cambridge; who was instrumental in getting the name of the Cambridge Fury changed back to the Rivulettes; who played a role in helping get the story of the team - his team - onto the local stage; is exactly where he is meant to be right now.

 

Teaching kids. Raising a family in his hometown. Coaching the Rivs. Making a difference in his community.

 

It all seems, well, just right.

 

I'm very happy for Hads. I really am.

 

I just can't believe I got stiffed for the Diet Cokes.