Cochrane hockey player cracks Alberta roster for Canada Winter Games

Cochrane hockey participant Raedyn Spademan is heading to Prince Edward Island in February as a member of Alberta’s U18 feminine hockey workforce, to compete within the 2023 Canada Winter Video games. 

The 16-year-old ahead, who for a lot of the 12 months performs for the RINK Hockey Academy in Kelowna, B.C., stated she was thrilled to make the provincial squad. She stated it has been a objective of hers since watching a few of Alberta’s championship-winning workforce on the 2019 Canada Winter Video games in Crimson Deer. 

“I’m so excited. It’s one thing I’ve been wanting because the preliminary invite record got here out,” stated Spademan. “I used to be in a position to watch among the 2019 Winter Video games, so it was cool to see myself hopefully being there someday.”

Held each 4 years, the Canada Winter Video games is a multi-sporting extravaganza that mimics the Olympic Video games. The 2023 occasion will see 1000’s of Canada’s high U20 athletes from over a dozen sports activities converge in P.E.I. for 2 weeks of competitors. 

“It was tremendous neat [watching the Games in 2019],” Spademan stated. “I knew Sarah Wozniewicz – she’s additionally a Cochrane lady, and he or she was on that workforce. It was cool to look at her play. That workforce was tremendous hard-working and ultimately ended up successful it.”

Whereas she at present performs for RINK within the Canadian Sports activities College Hockey League (CSSHL), Spademan’s hockey profession beforehand noticed her go well with up for minor groups in Cochrane and Olds, earlier than enrolling on the Edge College for Athletes in Springbank for her Grade 10 12 months. After a season of taking part in for the Edge Mountaineers, she moved to the Okanagan to play for RINK, which additionally fields groups within the CSSHL. 

The Grade 11 student-athlete touted the teaching as the principle advantage of shifting to the Kelowna-based sports activities academy to additional her particular person growth. 

“Our coach is totally wonderful,” she stated. “The event we do there, we’re principally on the ice daily for an hour and a half or two hours, doing abilities after faculty. RINK actually takes pleasure within the element they put into their athletes and I’ve already seen an enormous enchancment in my recreation from being there.”

In her first 12 months at RINK, Spademan has scored seven objectives and picked up two assists in 17 CSSHL video games to date.

One in every of Spademan’s colleagues at RINK, goaltender Farah Walker, from Airdrie, can be going to P.E.I. as a member of the Alberta workforce. 

Off the ice, Spademan stated she’s additionally excited to absorb the Olympic-esque environment of the Canada Winter Video games as soon as she’s in P.E.I. 

“I’ve heard there are occasions like, individuals go round and commerce pins with different provinces, so I’m excited for that,” she stated. “And being at RINK, it’s cool as a result of there are women from all completely different provinces who come to play on that workforce, so there are women from Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta and B.C., and I’m excited to play in opposition to them.

“I’m simply excited to soak within the expertise and watch the opposite sports activities too. It’s going to be lots of enjoyable.”

Along with making Alberta’s workforce for the upcoming Canada Winter Video games, Spademan additionally verbally dedicated to play for Clarkson College – an NCAA Division 1 hockey program, primarily based in New York State. After she’s signed her letter of intent for Clarkson in her Grade 12 12 months, Spademan stated she’ll transfer to New York within the fall of 2024. 

One other native consultant on Alberta’s U18 women’ hockey workforce is Makayla Watson from Rocky View County, who performs for the Edge.