Laurier teams: men’s and women’s hockey 

A Canadian sport for a Canadian university 

Wilfrid Laurier’s Brantford campus, while smaller than most, is still a Canadian university with two of its own hockey teams: one men’s and one women’s team.

These two teams make up a part of Laurier’s athletic community. Team sports are about community and working together, but individual progress is just as important. 

Daniel Ferrante is the goalie for the men’s hockey team as well as a third-year economics student. After beginning his career as a player for only one year before realizing that maybe something different might be better at the age of six Ferrante told his dad that he would be a goalie instead. 

Ferrante has been playing for Laurier since his first year but began playing hockey when he was five years old. Ferrante decided to play for the university for a simple but quite valid reason. 

“I just I saw that they had a team and I didn’t really want to stop playing hockey. It was, you know, I mean, I love the sport. It’s great, physical exercise keeps me in shape, which is, the biggest bonus of it, I would say,” Ferrante said. 

Haliee Solyk is a defensive player on the women’s hockey team and a second-year student in the criminology program. When Solyk started playing hockey, she didn’t know what position they wanted to play. Having only learned how to skate a few months before joining; what position to play wasn’t the first thing on her mind. 

Coaches placed her as a defensive player, and, there, she developed her great skill set. Solyk played on the team in her first year and will continue to do so in her second year as well. Having played hockey since childhood, Solyk decided that trying out for the team in her first year was something that she had to do. 

Each player has had different experiences while playing for Laurier Brantford’s hockey teams, but they seem to have been positive experiences overall. 

Ferrante said, “I would have to say, last season, we got our first tie. It was great. It was a 1-1 game. It was the first game we didn’t lose in two years…. It’s always a great time when we, have a good game and we can go back in the room after and just let loose.”
Solyk added, “Even if you don’t think you’re the best player, or if you think you’re not going to make the team, just go out and try. You might be able to make fun connections, even from like the two tryouts that there might be. You might end up making the team and surprising yourself.”