ON
THE FRINGE
A passion for hockey ignites
women's team
By
Tim Povtak | Sentinel
Staff Writer
Posted July 1,
2003
Their
love may have faded.
Their
love of hockey has not.
Later
this month, the fledging Orlando Sirens will resume
their first full season in the Florida Women's Hockey
League only because founders Leigh and David Varecka,
the captain and coach, wife and husband, respectively,
believed this team was too important to let fail.
After
three years of marriage, they have separated, begun
to lead separate lives, but together they have held
this team together, determined to see the Sirens
survive and eventually thrive.
" We're
both totally committed to this team," Leigh
said after Sunday's practice at RDV Sportsplex. "We've
put too much time and effort into this to think we'd
let it all fall apart because of our personal lives."
For
the first time in Florida, the women have a hockey
league of their own. And Central Florida now has
the Sirens, a team in its infancy, trying to carve
a niche that will last -- despite past efforts that
have failed.
Although some of the better players also play on various men's recreational
teams, it's the Sirens who have caught their full attention, giving
them a game to play with -- and against -- other women.
" This
is so much more enjoyable," said Candy McCrary,
whose husband serves as an assistant coach. "I'd
given up playing with the men. I was getting hurt
too often, but when I heard this team was starting
up, I knew it was time to dust off my skates again.
You can still hit, and be hit back, but it's against
women of comparable strength."
Ages
range from 18 to 50
The
Sirens have 24 women on the roster, but the skill
level is as wide-ranging as the ages. They are as
young as 18 and as old as 50. They range from players
with no previous hockey experience to a former college
player from the Northeast, where women's hockey is
considerably more established.
" They've
come a long way," David Varecka said. "For
some of the women who play in men's leagues, not
much is asked of them, but here, they have to be
leaders. They have to play with a little bit of cockiness,
and that's been enjoyable to see them progress."
Their
first practice was in November, in Rockledge where
ice time is less expensive. Seven players came, and
only two ever had played organized hockey. Some didn't
know how to get over the boards and onto the ice
without help.
Soon,
other players started joining, and practices were
moved to Maitland and RDV Sportsplex. The costs,
though, have risen. Players must buy their own equipment
and share the price of ice time for each practice,
which can be as much as $250 for 90 minutes on Sundays.
The
Sirens must share a locker room with men, who sometimes
can forget there are women in the room. On one recent
tournament in Fort Myers, six women shared a hotel
room to cut costs. But they returned with their first,
first-place trophy, winning the Women's Sunshine
State Games Novice Division.
When
they go to tournaments now, they try to take enough
players for two teams, playing in both the C-level
and novice divisions. In practices, though, everyone
plays together. Most of Sunday's practice was spent
on drills, trying to improve the overall skill level.
" We're
here to stay, absolutely," said Leigh Hird Varecka,
28, who played on a women's prep-school hockey team
in New York. "When I first moved to Central
Florida, I was surprised there was nowhere for the
women to play, except on a men's team. But I could
see the interest was there."
The
Sirens' next game is July 20 against the Fort Lauderdale
Freeze, one of the more established teams in the
state. There also are league teams in Tampa/Brandon,
Fort Myers and Jacksonville.
Keep
that cell phone handy
Varecka
is a sales representative for a pharmaceutical company,
often traveling during the day but always close to
a cell phone where she keeps in touch with the other
players.
McCrary,
50, is the team's oldest player. She is the recreation
director for the city of Apopka. She used to play
football, but she quit when she tore ligaments in
her knee. She started inline skating in the mid-1990s,
then transferred that hobby into ice hockey. But
the last time she played with the men, she left the
ice with a broken thumb.
" My
boss thinks I'm crazy, but I love this, what we're
doing now," she said. "I don't feel like
the oldest. As long as I'm healthy, I don't think
age is a factor."
Bridget
Clark, 42, is an admitted hockey nut, driving from
her home in Jacksonville to play for the Sirens.
Often, though, she stops along the way, at the ice
rink in Daytona Beach for private skating lessons.
Before Sirens practice begins, she is usually on
the ice taking an instructional hockey class with
men.
Her daughter, Krystle Clark, 18, was recruited to join the Sirens as
a goalie. Her son plays recreational hockey in a men's league.
" I
don't know what it was that hooked me on hockey," said
Bridget Clark, who works as an office secretary in
Jacksonville during the week. "I grew up in
Hawaii, where there isn't much ice, but I always
was fascinated by ice stuff in the Sears catalog.
I just can't get enough of it now."
Julie
Rodeghier, 21, is a senior at UCF and a graduate
of Colonial High School. She also plays on a B-level
men's recreational team. She used to play street
hockey, then discovered something even better --
ice hockey. She has become one of the Sirens' best
players.
Lorraine
Snyder, 37, is an insurance-company claims adjuster
who grew up in New York, where her father was a huge
Islanders fan. He was thrilled to hear his daughter
was playing hockey again. Her husband comes to the
games now. She has been with the Vareckas from the
start.
Kanako
Yoshioka, 26, is from Tokyo, moving here on a business
venture for at least the next six months. She joined
the team Sunday, and her skill level was plenty good
enough to fit right in with the Sirens.
Both
Kara Kobylka, a student at UCF, and Christine Mercnik,
who works at the new Ritz Carlton, are from the Toronto
area, which has plenty of women's ice hockey.
Their
love of hockey shows
The
team, though, revolves around the Vareckas, who still
share the organizational work, in addition to coaching
(David) and playing (Leigh).
Hockey
is how they first met -- when she crashed the party
and became the only woman on a men's recreational
team near Rochester, N.Y. -- while she was still
in college.
He
was a gritty defensiveman. She was a left wing with
finesse. They fell in love with the other's game,
then fell in love with each other.
Hockey
now a is constant thread that has held them together.
Their marriage has hit a bump, but their commitment
to this team never has wavered.
" It's
a fun thing we still have together," Leigh said. "We
were driving to practice together today, kind of
joking about it. And it may have helped put us back
on the road to recovery."
Tim
Povtak can be reached
at tpovtak@orlandosentinel.com.