Alicia Anderson - Player Spotlight

April 21, 2020 • 1 Comment

Alumni Spotlight – Pronghorns Women’s Hockey

Name: Alicia Anderson

Position: Goalie

Jersey Number: 1

Just a quick note to start – most of this interview was completed before the news of the club’s closure broke. We followed up with Alicia to see if she had any commentary on that, which has been appended to the end of this article. The rest of the content is the full player spotlight article we were preparing on her based on her responses from the week before the news broke.

Alicia Anderson completed her fifth and final year as a Pronghorn in February of this year. In addition to holding the Canada West record for games played by a goalie (121), Alicia put up an impressive 0.931% save percentage over her 5 years as a Pronghorn, with an incredible 0.949% in the 2017-2018 season. We asked Alicia how she prepares for a game being in what she says herself is a very mental position. Alicia shared with us that preparing for a game is all about the routine. She thanks teammate Kiana Stocker for throwing tennis balls at her before each game. “Doing the same thing before every game makes me feel prepared and helps take the nerves away,” Alicia says.

We wanted to know a bit about what got her here. Alicia told us about how she found her way into hockey via ringette. She started playing ringette at five years old and played that game for seven years. She switched to hockey in order to play in the new Bantam AAA female league that had opened in Calgary and has been playing ever since.

“No matter what happens in the game, you go see each other after and talk about what’s going on in your life.”

As she was learning the game, Alicia didn’t really look up to the pros, but rather had other players that she played with and against that she credits as having had a big influence on her. Shae Labby, an NCAA Division 1 women’s player, is one player Alicia has both played with and against and says is “the best female hockey player I ever played, either with or against.” Shae had played with team Canada on and off over the years as well. Being able to play against players of that quality in her own games motivates Alicia. “Whenever I see and play against them, it’s always a fun time. It’s a small community and that’s what makes it fun. No matter what happens in the game, you go see each other after and talk about what’s going on in your life”. Off the ice, Alicia credits Hailey Wood, the team’s interim coach, as someone who helped her transition from high school to University sports.

Alicia talked to us about her teammates on the Pronghorns and shared with us that the women she has played with on the Horns for the last five years have become her family. “It’s weird spending every day with these people and you’re not going to see them.” The pain is obvious as Alicia tells us this part. She knows that they’ll keep in touch and stay part of the tight-knit community of Canadian female hockey players.

In addition to her outstanding work with the Pronghorns, Alicia was an academic powerhouse off the ice. Alicia identifies hockey as only half her life, with her involvement in the University of Lethbridge Physical department as the other half. She spent many hours in the Physics lab studying, tutoring and engaged in the Physics & Astronomy club activities around campus.

Looking back over her many years playing at different levels, Alicia highlights her first year as a Pronghorn as an experience that sticks out for her. She remembers all of the girls on the team coming together and being so excited about building a new team together and starting a new program. Like her graduating captain, Mattie Apperson, Alicia remembers the excitement of the team’s win streak that year that saw the Horns Women’s Hockey team nationally ranked in Canada. On a personal level, she remembers the start of that season with her first game as a Pronghorn gaining Alicia her first CIS win, and her second game earning her a shutout.

“Being away with the team was the best part, especially when we get to fly.”

She also has lots of great memories of team trips and travelling. “Being away with the team was the best part, especially when we get to fly. Getting to spend that kind of time with each other and with players at this level”, was something she enjoyed a lot. Alicia also gave credit to the “Seventh Player” program, sponsored over the last few years by various organization and allowed young female players to do a warmup skate and line up with the starters gave the players the chance to meet with these up and coming players and for Alicia that was really rewarding: “It was awesome getting to talk to them because they were so excited about hockey.”

Alicia transplanted to Lethbridge from Calgary, and have grown to love the city. “Growing up in Calgary it was an adjustment, but the community was just awesome. You feel like a real celebrity playing for the Pronghorns. I highly recommend it [Lethbridge] for any younger person.” Alicia also had the advice for younger players that it’s important to enjoy the moment and have fun. Remember it doesn’t last forever. She also wants young women considering a future in sport to know that if you find something you’re passionate about, you can do anything you can set your mind on. Just make sure to have fun doing it, and enjoy yourselves.

After the news of the Pronghorn’s WHOC team being cut broke, we reached back out to Alicia to see if she wanted to add a comment to this article. She provided us with the following written statement:

“When I first heard the news of the program being cut I was shocked and disappointed. I had 5 amazing years as a pronghorn women's hockey player and I'm extremely proud of how the program has evolved since my first year. I'm forever grateful for the experiences I had as a pronghorn and the connections and relationships I've made in Lethbridge and I wish the best for all of the players who were planning on returning to the team next year. Hockey is more than just a sport, it brings our country together, and I hope the university will consider sponsoring a hockey program again in the future."

As her time as a Pronghorn comes to a close, Alicia will be finishing her BSc in Physics and still remain active at the University as she begins her MSc in Physics. She looks forward to continuing work in the experimental astrophysics lab working on astronomical instrumentation. She explained to us what exactly it is she does there, but we aren’t sure we’re allowed to print it since some of it sounds like some top-secret stuff! Alicia never wants to stop playing the game she loves regardless of the level she can play at now. “Intramurals, beer league, it doesn’t matter – I just don’t want to stop.” She says. And we hope she doesn’t!

Mattie Apperson - Player Spotlight

April 20, 2020 • 7 Comments

Alumni Spotlight – Pronghorns Women’s Hockey

Name: Mattie Apperson

Position: Defence

Jersey Number: 13

To our new readers who may be followers of our social feeds over the last few years, it will come as no surprise that Mattie Apperson has been one of our favourite subjects to shoot while covering the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns Women’s Hockey team. As the season drew to a close and Mattie graduated to join the Pronghorns’ Alumni community, we had a chance to speak to her for a final phone interview about her time with the club. In light of the recent news from the University of Lethbridge regarding the suspension of their varsity Hockey program (both men’s and women’s), we realize that this piece now takes on a new light. We want to be clear we initially spoke to Mattie before the news broke about the programs, however, we did contact her for a follow-up after the original interview had completed and the first draft of our article was prepared to get her thoughts on the closure of the program.

“It’s something that shaped how we have grown up”

Mattie gained her interest in hockey early in life from her family. In her own words, “My whole family is a hockey family, all 4 siblings play the game”. She fondly recalls her parents coaching her and her siblings through novice and atom levels growing up. “It’s something that shaped how we have grown up”, she says. 4 of the 5 hockey-playing children in her family went on to do hockey in their post-secondary careers. A member of the OWHA until Bantam, Mattie, her mother, and one brother relocated to Saskatchewan’s prestigious Notre Dame high school to pursue her academic athletic future further. It was from Notre Dame that she got the offer to join UofL and become a Pronghorn.

Mattie, like many young hockey players in the ’90s and early 2000s, looked up to Hayley Wickenheiser and Gillian Apps as role models for her hockey career. However, when we asked her who her favourite player was growing up, she admits that she grew to love the game as much as she does because of her sister, a player for the Inferno in the CWHL until they dissolved. That was reinforced by her mom she cites as her role model growing up. “Without her support”, Mattie says of her mom, “I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

“This was a hard year because we lost that group of girls… that group was really special”

When we asked her about her teammates, you could really hear the mix of pride and sadness in Mattie’s voice. She looks back over her five years as a Pronghorn and recognizes many great teammates over that time. There is definite affection for the group of girls that she joined the program with, and those who were a year ahead of her and really helped bring her into the program. Looking back over 2019-20’s season, Mattie says, “This was a hard year because we lost that group of girls. Every year new girls come in and you make friends with them, but that group was really special.” Mattie brightens noticeably when we ask her about what that group of girls is up to now, and she proudly confirms that many of them are still active in hockey in one way or another, either coaching or playing beer league and keeping in touch with each other along the way. She also gave a special shout-out to Heidi Shaw, the team’s trainer. Mattie says that Heidi worked with her through her entire 5 years as a Pronghorn and recognizes her as someone who has always been there to support her and the team.

Mattie’s career has had several notable successes. Prior to becoming a Pronghorn, Mattie won the Westerns (regional championship) at the high school level with Notre Dame. In her year after high school but before the Horns, she was on the silver medal JWHL team that year, who earned that honour after coming from behind several times in the tournament and nearly upsetting the tournament favourites in the final game. As a Pronghorn, she fondly remembers a 6 game winning streak in her first year, a year which saw the Horns Women’s team nationally ranked in Canada.

Before stepping onto the ice for any game, Mattie tries to stay loose and likes to fool around with her teammates. She admits to having a small superstition around always putting her right skate and shin pad on first, then the left, in that order every time. She is also always the last one out of the change room. It’s a routine she developed in her 2nd year as a Pronghorn and continued through to her final year as Captain this past year.

“I’m really excited for the program, and I can see the change ahead.”

Mattie is optimistic for the future of the Pronghorns, and says that one of her final highlights was getting to play for the Horns’ new coach this year, Doug Paisley. “I’m really excited for the program, and I can see the change ahead,” she says to us as we start to wrap up our interview.

When we ask if the departing Captain has any final words of advice or wisdom for other young women playing or wanting to play the game, she says that you need to be ready to face a lot of adversity. “Don’t give up or get down on yourself”. It isn’t easy balancing hockey, school, and life. Use your support systems. That’s the biggest thing, she confirms, "learn as much as you can from the others around you."

Mattie is gearing up for a move to Calgary this summer. She is looking forward to new opportunities in the business world, possibly going back to school a few years down the road. Mattie hopes for the opportunity to travel but is waiting to see how that fits with her new life before locking in any plans. If you happen to be out in Sweden, where Mattie’s sister now plays for a Swedish team along with several other Canadian WNHL alumni, keep your eyes open – you might just find her on a business trip checking out her sister’s team.

Lastly, as we mentioned at the beginning, this was all put together before the programs were announced to be closing. Mattie provided us the following written statement in follow-up to the interview following her news:

“Heartbreaking news to receive. The program I have been so proud to play for the last 5 years was cut without any warning. This program has made amazing strides and I could see the potential the program had in the coming years. My heart hurts for the players that were supposed to continue on next season. There have been amazing players and people to come from both programs. Extremely disappointed in this decision.”

From the team at MPP, we want to say thank you to Mattie for taking the time to speak with us and share a bit about her time as a Pronghorn as she embarks on her first steps as an alumnus. Mattie was a great player and great advocate for her team and sport in the community, and we’ll miss her. We also want to share her sentiment to the rest of the Horns hockey community, both current and alumni players, and express our deepest condolences over the loss of the program.

Colin Moreland, Editor, MPP Sports