Saanichton sisters Veda and Lexi Smith made the cut for this year’s Vancouver Island-Sunshine Coast zone girls hockey team and are off to the B.C. Winter Games this month.
The twins play together on the Bantam A South Island Royals, Lexi at center and Veda on the blueline. This will be Lexi’s second trip to the Games and Veda’s first.
“There should be a lot of good girls out there,” Lexi said of the competition they expect to see in Mission for the Games from Feb. 20 to 23.
Teams will play up to five games, they said, adding they think teams from Vancouver and the Kootenays will be the toughest competition.
Both girls have been playing hockey for nearly seven years, working out three or four times a week, playing most weekends during the season and trying to keep up with their school work from Stelly’s Secondary. Both are in Grade 9.
The duo were among the 18 players selected to the zone team out of 60 and are happy to have made it.
“Ten of the players on the (zone) team are from our regular team,” added Veda. “We have played with all of them for a while.”
“They’re all nice girls,” said Lexi, noting they come from all over the South Island.
Like many hockey players and fans, the sisters say they are watching Canada’s Olympic women’s hockey team closely as they compete in Sochi, Russia. It’s to this height of competition that both Lexi and Veda say they strive.
“Skill-wise,” said Lexi, “I am always learning new things, adapting those skills on the ice and trying to help my teammates.”
Lexi and Veda Smith are part of a group of Peninsula athletes and coaches off to the B.C. Winter Games this year. Watch the PNR for more in coming editions.