The 12-year-old Falmouth resident is one of two Nova Scotian players prepping to play for the East Coast Selects – Q team travelling to Bolzano, Italy for the World Selects Invitational tournament in May.
Ashlyn Garnett, of Dartmouth, will be sharing the ice with Ava in Italy.
Ava, who has been playing hockey for seven years, was invited to tryout for the tournament after scouts saw her in action this summer.
She skated among 68 girls from eastern Canada and the United States at the three-game tryout tournament in early January. She remembers getting to know the other players in a hotel the night before the big tryout in Maine, and wondering how she’d measure up to the competition.
“That was pretty intense because a lot of them looked really good,” Ava explains.
As it turns out, she fit right in when they stepped on the ice.
“I thought I had a really good tryout and I thought I stood out but you don’t always make a team that you deserve to (make),” the West Hants Middle School student recalls.
She told herself the tryout results would not “make or break” her, but there was no need to brace for the worst-case scenario.
Ava’s mother, Kim Benedict, will be joining her daughter in Italy from May 1 to May 10 to watch the East Coast Selects group, one of three North American entries in the international tournament, faceoff against teams from as far off as Russia, Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic and Slovakia.
“She’s a very fun player to watch, she’s skilled and it’s nice to see that she’ll be playing with some really good players,” says Benedict, who has been instructed to leave the air horn, cowbell or noisemakers of any kind at home for the duration of the trip.
The team is guaranteed five games and, depending on their performance, could advance to crossovers and the championship round.
Ava’s former coach, Jamie Leighton, feels Hants County will be well represented in Italy.
“She’s a phenomenal little hockey player. She’s got unbelievable vision on the ice, her work ethic is through the roof,” he says.
Leighton calls Ava, a member of the Valley Wild PeeWee AA female team, up to his Bantam team as an affiliate player from time to time.
“She fits in quite well,” he says.
“Her skating and her vision on the ice, it’s second to none. She really understands the game.”
In addition to honing her skills on the ice, Ava is focusing on raising $4,500 to help cover the travel costs associated with participating in the tournament in Italy.
Donations can be submitted online through a crowd funding page started to assist with Ava’s travel expenses. To donate, click here.
The 12-year-old Falmouth resident is one of two Nova Scotian players prepping to play for the East Coast Selects – Q team travelling to Bolzano, Italy for the World Selects Invitational tournament in May.
Ashlyn Garnett, of Dartmouth, will be sharing the ice with Ava in Italy.
Ava, who has been playing hockey for seven years, was invited to tryout for the tournament after scouts saw her in action this summer.
She skated among 68 girls from eastern Canada and the United States at the three-game tryout tournament in early January. She remembers getting to know the other players in a hotel the night before the big tryout in Maine, and wondering how she’d measure up to the competition.
“That was pretty intense because a lot of them looked really good,” Ava explains.
As it turns out, she fit right in when they stepped on the ice.
“I thought I had a really good tryout and I thought I stood out but you don’t always make a team that you deserve to (make),” the West Hants Middle School student recalls.
She told herself the tryout results would not “make or break” her, but there was no need to brace for the worst-case scenario.
Ava’s mother, Kim Benedict, will be joining her daughter in Italy from May 1 to May 10 to watch the East Coast Selects group, one of three North American entries in the international tournament, faceoff against teams from as far off as Russia, Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic and Slovakia.
“She’s a very fun player to watch, she’s skilled and it’s nice to see that she’ll be playing with some really good players,” says Benedict, who has been instructed to leave the air horn, cowbell or noisemakers of any kind at home for the duration of the trip.
The team is guaranteed five games and, depending on their performance, could advance to crossovers and the championship round.
Ava’s former coach, Jamie Leighton, feels Hants County will be well represented in Italy.
“She’s a phenomenal little hockey player. She’s got unbelievable vision on the ice, her work ethic is through the roof,” he says.
Leighton calls Ava, a member of the Valley Wild PeeWee AA female team, up to his Bantam team as an affiliate player from time to time.
“She fits in quite well,” he says.
“Her skating and her vision on the ice, it’s second to none. She really understands the game.”
In addition to honing her skills on the ice, Ava is focusing on raising $4,500 to help cover the travel costs associated with participating in the tournament in Italy.
Donations can be submitted online through a crowd funding page started to assist with Ava’s travel expenses. To donate, click here.
