BY JOHN DECOSTE

Kings County Register

The Valley High School Hockey League girls’ division wrapped up a successful year with its awards banquet April 8 in Berwick.

Ashley Aker of Avon View, her team’s MVP as well as a league all-star, was the evening’s big winner, receiving the girls’ division Player of the Year award.

Middleton, the 2007/ 2008 league champion, received the Peter Connell Memorial Trophy and also earned the award as the least penalized team.

Tabby Bent of Middleton, who scored 14 goals and added 14 assists in 11 league games, received the Leading Scorer Award. Middleton head coach Greg Gillis was recognized as Coach of the Year.

Guest speaker for the evening was Pictou County native Amy Ferguson, one of Nova Scotia’s best-ever female hockey players, who played four years of NCAA Division 1 hockey with Dartmouth College and one year professionally with Edmonton.

Ferguson, a women’s hockey pioneer, gave the young players in attendance highlighted her career, which included growing up playing on boys’ teams and being the first girl to play boys’ hockey for West Pictou District High School.

She told of playing with - and against - players who won world championships and Olympic gold medals playing for Canada, and of being a participant in the first-ever “Frozen Four” U.S. national women’s hockey championship.

“I wasn’t lucky enough to play girls’ hockey,” she said, “but you girls are.

“It’s very exciting to see the progress in girls’ high school hockey - from girls fighting just to play on boys’ teams to today, when you have your own league.”

Ferguson, who now lives in Falmouth and is the human resources manager at Fundy Gypsum in Hantsport, still plays recreational hockey.

“Our team is called the ‘Coldbrook Old Boys’,” she says, “but we’re not all old, and we’re not all boys.”

Ferguson recalled one time she tried out for a AAA team.

“There were more goalies than there were spots, and getting cut was always an option. I expected to be cut - and I was, but the coach told me it was because I was a girl, not because I wasn’t good enough.

“I wondered if it was going to be like that from now on.”

She admitted being “disappointed at the time,” but at the same time, “determined to prove them wrong.”

Undaunted, she moved up a division, tried out - and made the team.

“I took the challenge, and it turned out to be a decision that changed my life,” she said. “It was the first time I ever felt included on a team. The coach gave me confidence, and my goalie partner is still like a brother to me.”

Ferguson described her four years at Dartmouth as “the best four years of my life - at least so far. Playing with 21 girls over four years, you learn a lot about teamwork and co-operation. It’s the best female hockey in the world,” and experiencing it is a goal all female players can strive for.

“Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself or take on adversity, set your goals high and accept challenges,” she said. “The things you learn through hockey, you may not realize for a while just how important they are.

“A lot has happened in the years between you and me,” she said. “Now you have your own league to play in. You need to take your experiences, move on and pass them on to the players who come after you.”

Team awards

Avon View – MVP: Ashley Aker; Coach’s Award: Melissa Behri

Central Kings – MVP: Kendra Mansfield; Coach’s Award: Danielle Bennicke

Horton – MVP: Victoria Duncan; Coach’s Award: Victoria Mumford

Middleton – Co-MVPs: Carly Gillis, Stefanie Banks

NKEC – MVP: Jenny Muggah; Coach’s Award: Brittany Moore

Park View – MVP: Amanda Arab; Coach’s Award: Courtney Whynot

Team awards were not presented for West Kings.