By Calder Stenn
Located north of Downtown Seattle is Shoreline, home of the Highland Ice Arena. While the venue is used practically every day for recreational ice skating, it is also home to Western Washington Female Hockey Association’s (WWFHA) club, the Washington Wild.
Sophomore Amber Fairbanks joined the Wild’s U-12/U-14 team this season after looking all over Seattle for a girls hockey club. The Wild have seven youth travel teams, four of which are considered select while the other three are recreational.
It is her first time playing the sport competitively.
“I always wanted to play, but [my family and I] couldn’t find an all-girls league for me to play in until now,” Fairbanks said.
The first-time Wild team member practices three times a week at Highland Ice Arena, and has so far played in 10 games with her team.
“[We have had two tournaments in] Burnaby and Langley, and unfortunately … out of those tournaments, we have won one game,” Fairbanks said via internet correspondence. “But three quarters of our team is brand new, so it makes sense.”
The U12/U14 Wild currently hold a 1-9 in record, which has not been solely attributed to team’s new look.
“When we go to Canada, there are Canadian teams there,” Fairbanks said. “The division they had put us in [for] the past [tournaments] was too high, so the Canadian teams’ skill levels were much higher.”
Despite the Wild’s rather rough adjustment period, Fairbanks is still having plenty of fun. She plays both center and wing, although she enjoys center the most because of its defensive focus.
“Center is the person in the middle. They take the face-offs and go all around on defense, helping the defensemen, as well as offense,” Fairbanks said. “Centers also help carry the puck out of the defensive zone [and] into the offensive zone.”
On the other hand, when Fairbanks plays winger, she must play with a more offensive mindset. The winger’s primary job is to play off the center and move the puck up the line. Even when she is on defense, Fairbanks must be prepared at any moment to counterattack.
Prior to her arrival at the Washington Wild, Fairbanks would play around at local rinks with her father, Chris, and uncle, Curt. Both family members were her primary inspirations for pursuing the sport.
“My dad and uncle played for … [former Junior B and C] teams called [the Canadian] Northwest Americans and Seattle Ironmen,” Fairbanks said. “There [are] three levels to junior teams: level A or Tier One, which the [Seattle] Thunderbirds are in[,] level B or tier Two[,] which the Northwest Americans were in, and level C or Tier Three, which the Ironmen were in.”
Curt Fairbanks ended up playing for both teams before they went defunct, while Chris only played for the Ironmen.
Now, another Fairbanks family member looks to carry on the hockey tradition.
The team heads to Portland, Oregon, in February.