Teenager Kayla Kruger knows what it’s like to be famous.
“I had a little girl … point and go, ‘Oh my God. That girl plays on the Chaos,’” said Kruger of a recent encounter in a restaurant. “It kind of made my heart melt a little bit.”
The Grade 11 Bow Valley High School student is living proof that the new Cochrane Chaos women’s junior hockey team is already making an impact on young girls.
Since part of the squad’s mandate when they were formed earlier this year was to be a force for females and show them they can play high-level hockey right here at home – the team couldn’t be happier.
“They have a face to a player – then they feel like they know them. We wanted girls to know they have options … (to have) people to look up to,” said coach Laura Olsen.
“Already people are recognizing who we are in the community, and that’s really awesome,” a proud Kruger echoed.
At 16, Kruger is the youngest player on the Chaos by more than a year. While her teammates – who range in age from nearly 18 to 23 years old – talk about university mid-terms and make plans to go to the bar, she wonders how she did on her math test.
“My point of view about life so far is totally different. I can’t even drive yet,” Kruger said with a laugh, adding the girls are thick as thieves where it counts. “I’ve been fitting in really well on the ice with them.”
Mom Aaron said the age difference hasn’t affected her daughter’s play – in fact, the supportive atmosphere re-ignited her passion for the game.
Kruger and her family moved to Cochrane two years ago from Fort McMurray, and the transition was difficult for the teen. Aaron said her daughter needed to find a new hockey team – somewhere to fit in, with players as hungry as she was – or she risked quitting the game all together.
After try-outs for the Chaos, Aaron knew Kruger had found her place.
“Her first ice time, she was in love. She just felt like this is where she belonged,” remembered Aaron. ““This team has really boosted her self-esteem – it’s definitely made the sport a more positive place. I’m more than happy.”
Kruger agreed, saying she loves being with a group of girls who push themselves, and each other, to do and be their best.
“I want to win and I want to excel and I want to succeed,” said the five-foot-five defense player. “These girls have all played AAA. They understand I’m not just here for the social part of it.”
Cochrane’s first female junior level hockey team has been together for a little more than a month and played their first regular season game on Oct. 2 to a loud and welcoming crowd at Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre. So far, they’re 1-2 in the Alberta Junior Female Hockey League standings, losing the last two on the road – in overtime to the top-ranked Fort Saskatchewan Fury and another to the Sherwood Park Steele. They next play at home at 7:15 p.m. on Oct. 22 against the Irma Chargers.
Olsen said even though the team is still finding its feet, she doesn’t want to use newness as an excuse for performance.
“What are we going to take from that? What are we going to work on…?” she said. “We are a brand new squad. We’ve all kind of meshed so well, but we forget it’s only our fourth week of practice.”
Kruger isn’t concerned about the numbers – she knows the team has a lot to be proud of. And all she has to do is remember the look on that little girl’s face to be reminded of what being a member of the Chaos is truly all about.
“To think that in the future, I may have helped (her) – I think it’s really cool.”
