Committing to a school sport takes up a lot of extra time that makes it hard to balance with schoolwork.  However, some students are going beyond the norm and do sports outside of school.  One student, Michelle Silver (14’), participates in school sports, a travel softball team, and an ice hockey team. 

            Besides making the junior varsity soccer team and varsity softball team at PHS as a freshman, Michelle plays travel softball, and is fully committed to ice hockey.  Michelle dedicates a lot of her time to sports, whether it’s going to a softball game in or out of school.  However, she really goes above and beyond with her commitment for ice hockey. 

            “I started playing when I was six years old,” Michelle said. “As a kid, I had always watched it and one day my dad suggested it.  I guess it had stuck ever since.” 

            At first, it was extremely challenging for Michelle to balance this extra sport with all of her schoolwork, but as the years went on she created a scheduled way to keep up with her work.  She normally does her homework in the car on the way to practices since the drives are an hour away in Montgomery County. 

            “When you are younger, the sport isn’t too competitive,” Michelle said. “But, as you get older and into higher levels, it gets very competitive and it’s hard to get into certain elite teams.” 

            Michelle loves how fast-paced hockey is.  Normally, it is hard for her to play slower sports.  She is very happy that she found a faster sport that has a lot of teamwork and unity. 

            “I hope to keep playing ice hockey in college,” Michelle said. “I can’t imagine my life without playing the sport because I love it so much.  I hope to play for either a D1 or D3 school somewhere up north.” 

            Michelle’s position is extremely crucial to the game.  She plays goalie or goal tender which is the heart of the defense.  The role of the goalie is to stop shots and help keep the team in the game.  It is a very important position on the team because it can make or break a game. 

            “The hardest thing about playing ice hockey is the amount of time and money it takes to be fully committed to the sport,” Michelle said. “And, as a goalie, you cannot lose focus.  You have to give 110 percent the whole time.” 

            Michelle’s team participates in many tournaments throughout the whole year that are all over the country.  The team did the ponytail tournament which was an all girls tournament in York, PA.  Also, the biggest tournament of the year the team participated in was nationals in Fresco, Texas.  The team lost in the quarter finals. 

            “I am really close with my team and my coaches,” Michelle said.  “They are all pretty much like sisters to me.” 

            Sometimes injuries worry Michelle about playing the sport.  Many people can get concussions from playing ice hockey and Michelle has even had a lot of head injuries from playing the game.  Even though by playing ice hockey Michelle risks these injuries, nothing can stop her from playing the game. 

            “Ice hockey is a lot of fun,” Michelle said. “It helps build character and get my mind off of outside distractions because I am always so focused.”