For most students, attending university in another province can be a daunting affair, despite the opportunity to make new friends, visit a new place, and possibly play sports on a university team. For these four girls on the St. Thomas University women’s hockey team, they had the added advantage of playing hockey with some of their closest friends throughout their time at STU. After 7+ years, Alex Woods (Courtice, ON), Megan Pardy (Courtice, ON), Emma Pye (Oshawa, ON) and Olivia Reid (Aurora, ON) are finishing off their university careers after playing together since junior, and for three of them, since elementary school.
Before coming to STU, Woods says they were each talking to different coaches and weren’t sure that they would end up in the same place, but that “it was really exciting once we realized we were going to be able to play together and experience university together.” In her fifth year of eligibility but her sixth year suiting up for the team, Woods says her experience playing for STU has been incredible, notably the large amount of community support. She’s had the opportunity to play with one of her best friends, Megan Pardy, who she has known since her first year of girl’s hockey, when she was 7. Playing together all throughout their careers and attending school together from grades 1-12 has given the two such a strong bond that Pardy says, “we are more like sisters at this point in our friendship.” The two are roommates with two other teammates which Woods says, “can be pretty entertaining at times,” and that there is “never a dull moment.”
This year, Emma Pye also joined STU after completing her undergraduate degree at the University of Waterloo. Friends with Megan since her first year of hockey, Pye says one of her favourite memories is when the four met up over the winter break a few years ago to visit the Christmas market; “the three of them were already all playing for STU and we never would’ve thought I would be too a few years later.” She says having these three around has brought her closer to home while exploring a new province, city, and school. Pye is roommates with Olivia Reid and says the two joke about how “if you asked us 5 years ago, we never would have thought we would be roommates.”
Reid, who joined the trio on the PWHL Leaside Wildcats, says living with Emma is a lot of fun, that she “always has a smile” and “laughs at all my jokes, even when they’re not funny.” Next year, “Reidy” hopes to move back home and begin work as a crime analyst, but for now, she’s enjoying her final year at STU with three women who she’s comfortable playing with. Pye describes it as “natural chemistry”, while Pardy says playing together for so long has helped her know what each player is going to do on the ice, though Reid’s “tricks up her sleeve” can make it hard to predict her next move. When asked how they’ve each changed over the years as players, Pardy says after a few years of not playing with Emma, she was reminded “just how quick she is and how good her ability is to pick the puck off people from behind them.” Woods adds that Reid “scores a lot of clutch goals for us,” and that Pardy “is one of the smartest players I have ever played with.”
Alex, Megan, and Olivia all say their favourite memory together was winning the AUS Championship in 2019. They hope to repeat that feeling this year, along with Emma, to mark the end of a career playing together, but only the beginning stage of friendships that will last a lifetime.
Story: Martina Barclay