Ever since she began playing hockey at five years old, Sydney Kreps has played with the boys.
But now, with an eye toward her future – which one day, she hopes, includes a college hockey scholarship – the 14-year-old Semiahmoo Secondary student knows that the next step is to play solely with girls. And her first opportunity will come next month, when she laces up her skates with the Fraser Valley (Zone 3) U16 girls team at the B.C. Winter Games, which take place in Vernon Feb. 23-26.
“I’ve been playing with the boys my whole life, since I was five, six years old,” Kreps explained. “But I started wanting to do something with hockey, since I just love the sport so much, so I decided to take this opportunity, and at least see where it goes.
“I figured I’d at least give it my best shot.”
It’s been so far, so good for the right-winger, who is playing this season for Semiahmoo Minor Hockey’s bantam C8 team. She attended a two-day Winter Games tryout camp at the end of December, and impressed coaches enough to stick on one of the three Games-bound squads; about 100 girls tried out, with 60 making the cut.
And she also caught the eye of a coach with the Surrey Falcons of the Surrey Female Hockey Association, who invited her to join the team at some spring events.
Kreps said it’s always been her plan to transition to girls hockey by the midget level – where she’ll be next fall – but admits it will be tough to leave the boys behind, many of whom she’s played with nearly her whole minor-hockey career.
“I’m having so much fun playing with my friends right now, so I didn’t want to go (before midget),” she said.
“It’s never been weird, playing with boys. They all know me, they’re my friends. And this year, I’m a second-year (bantam) player, so I’m one of the older ones, and a lot of the first-years look up to me as a leader, and I’m very comfortable with that.”
She admits she felt slightly less comfortable prior to Winter Games tryouts last month, which were held in Coquitlam.
Normally one to get butterflies before a big game, Kreps got to the rink extra early so she could better prepare herself.
“I’m usually the first person at the rink. If I’m nervous, I feel like when I get to the rink, get to the ice, I can calm my nerves down,” she said.
“I’ll get dressed, then take a step out of the dressing room and give myself time by myself to think about what I’m going to do on the ice.”
For the first day in Coquitlam, she and her dad, Darin, got to the rink at 6:45 a.m. for a 9 a.m. ice time.
“And then I actually ended up being put in the later group. We were on the ice last,” she laughed.
“But it was good, though. It gave me lots of time to hang out with the rest of the girls.”
She actually began preparing for the tryout well in advance of the first day, she said. She trained hard off the ice and shots pucks at home nearly every night in preparation. And once she stepped onto the ice, she felt right at home.
“I felt like I fit in, but there were also a lot of girls there who I thought were better than me, so I just tried to learn as much as I could from them,” she said.
As per tournament rules, Kreps’ Fraser Valley team is not allowed to practise together prior to the start of the B.C. Games, but she hopes the squad gels quickly; they arrive in Vernon by bus on Feb. 23 and play that night in Lumby.
“It’s going to be a challenge, for sure. We’re just going to have to play as a team,” she said. “I’m just really looking forward to the opportunity to play at such a high-performance event with these girls.”
Kreps is one of a handful of South Surrey, Cloverdale and White Rock athletes and coaches who will be attending the B.C. Winter Games next month and participating in a variety of sports, from hockey, gynmastics, skiing and more.