SD Prep Sports:

2006-07 Winter Sports
Metro Conference

Roller Hockey

Girl powered
Female players starting to play leadership role in roller hockey

Posted Jan. 11, 2007
History of a kind was made Tuesday at Skate San Diego in National City as Bonita Vista’s Melissa Ho and Kelly Nash scored to give Bonita Vista a 2-1 lead in its Mesa League roller hockey game against La Jolla. It is believed to be the first time two female skaters have scored back-to-back goals in a CIF/Metro Conference game, at least in a game pitting playoff-caliber teams.

“It’s great,” exclaimed Nash, who recently committed to play women’s ice hockey this fall for defending NCAA champion University of Wisconsin Badgers. “We need more scorers.”

Nash, whose skills and on-court savvy likely place her above 90 percent of her male counterparts, according to one opposing coach, is no longer an oddity in a sport that is officially classified as coed. Girls have begun to populate the rosters of most South County teams in increasing numbers. This year’s Bonita Vista roster, in fact, features three female skaters. Joining Nash and Ho in the Barons’ lineup is Nicole Letone.

Chula Vista’s roster features six female players, including standout goaltender Jessica “Bo” Mendez.

Defending South Bay League champion Mar Vista may have showcased the first standout female skater in Heather Lamb during the 2001-02 season while Allison Martinez starred between the pipes for Castle Park during the 2002-03 campaign. Other females who have earned a name for themselves in high school roller hockey include a pair of former La Jolla skaters: Natalie Noris and Jamie “Bam Bam” Huntley.

The list doesn’t stop there but rather is just a beginning.

The shine is no longer that girls are playing alongside physically more developed boys in a sometimes rough-and-tumble sport like roller hockey but that they are excelling on the court.

Nash, who plays girls lacrosse in the spring, finished second in Mesa League scoring her sophomore year. Ho may have had the best showing of her career on Tuesday.

Ho and Nash were paired on the same line several times throughout Tuesday’s action-packed contest that saw La Jolla pull off a dramatic 5-4 victory on a goal by Johnny Noris with 16 seconds to play.

“Melissa played a very smart game. She was just inches away from making a number of plays (that could have resulted in more goals),” Bonita Vista coach Keith Quigley said. “It was awesome to have Melissa and Kelly playing on the same line together.”

Quigley, who has coached the Barons since the debut of CIF-sanctioned play seven years ago, said the coed nature of the sport is a facet that could end up proving to be a godsend to some area teams. “It’s presently a coed sport and that may end up helping some of the teams down here that are already low in numbers (with male players).”

Nash, who celebrated her 18th birthday on Tuesday, finished the matchup against the defending Mesa League champion Vikings with two goals. She had six goals and two assists in her season debut game against Southwest (a 14-0 win) and led the Barons with two goals and four assists in an 11-0 Mesa League victory against Chula Vista on Jan. 3. In the latter game, Nash fed Ho for Bonita Vista’s seventh goal in the game.

La Jolla coach Joe Noris had one word of advice to his players: keep the puck away from her.

“The whole thing is that when you have the puck and she’s there, you have to be very conservative and play defensively with it because she’s such a threat to steal the puck,” Noris said. “She was nailing us like that all game. You have to slap the puck away from her — I don’t care anywhere on the rink. We were lucky she had an off night and scored just one goal in the first period.”

Ho is no stranger to hockey after growing up in Canada. She previously played a game called ringette in the Great White North — a game played with a shaft somewhat similar to a hockey stick. “When I moved here, I started playing hockey,” she said.

Ho has collected a few points here and there in previous seasons but looks to become more of an impact this year. “It’s pretty unusual to play on the same line with another girl but it felt good,” said Ho when asked about Tuesday’s history-making performance. “My goal is just to continue to keep improving the rest of the season.”

Girls are no longer taking the sport as a novelty experience, either.

Mendez, who is the fourth female goaltender to suit up for the Spartans in recent years, plays in adult leagues at Skate San Diego during the off-season and proudly notes that she owns a couple of league championships.

“Jessica is different from the other girls in that she has gone the extra mile,” said Chula Vista head coach Pam Wiser, who is a bit of a maverick herself as a female hockey coach.

Mendez, a junior, follows trail-blazers Kristina Villanueva, Ana Diabla and Roxanne Seda between the pipes. Her goal is to become one of the top goaltenders in the conference — male or female.

“I need to work more on not dropping so much,” said Mendez, who is backed up by another female netminder this season, Ashley Smith.

It is not uncommon to find girls playing the goaltending position on boys youth teams but not so common at the high school level. Mendez said it couldn’t be more of a perfect fit for her, however.

“When I first came on the team, I wasn’t predicted to be playing out (on the floor) that much so I went into the net,” Mendez said. “It just came easily. I love playing hockey.”

“She seems to be very focused. She’s right up there, holding her own, regardless of gender,” Wiser said of Mendez.

Mendez has gained such an appreciation for the sport that she would like to continue playing it at the collegiate level. “I want to play college hockey with Kelly Nash,” the Spartan netminder said. “She’s one of my friends. She’s my idol.”

Well, enough said.