Taylor sisters share a love of the game

Page 6

Naomi and Sheema Taylor certainly got their share of ice time this season.

The sisters, age 15 and 13 respectively, each played for three different hockey teams.

Well, four actually, if you count the fact that both were members of the Ontario North girls' entry at the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships (NAHC) staged April 17 to 23 in Miramichi, N.B.

The Taylor sisters helped Ontario North place fourth at the NAHC, a tournament that featured nine teams in the girls' division.

The Taylors, whose mother Liz is Ojibway, live on the Wasauksing First Nation, located 10 kilometres outside of Parry Sound.

This marked the first year the sisters have participated at the NAHC. Both girls have been playing hockey for five years.

Naomi, who plays defence, earned five points (two goals, three assists) in seven games. And Sheema, a goaltender and the youngest player on the Ontario North squad, appeared in three matches at the nationals and won all of her games between the pipes.

The girls' division at the NAHC primarily featured players 17 and under but each club was allowed to carry a maximum of five overagers, who could be as old as 21. That meant that Sheema faced some players who were as many as eight years older than her.

"It was difficult," said Sheema, who is a Grade 8 student at St. Peter's The Apostle Catholic school in Parry Sound. "But I'm glad I faced them just to see how much I need to improve still."

Sheema backstopped Ontario North to a pair of round-robin victories, 9-5 over Team Atlantic and 5-0 against British Columbia. She was also in net during Ontario North's 8-2 quarter-final triumph over Manitoba.

Sheema was not a goaltender during her first season of organized hockey, but has been a netminder for the past four years.

"I've just really taken a liking to it," she said. "I enjoy waiting for the shot to come."

Sheema was the lone female player on her school hockey team this season, and the team's only goaltender. That team played a handful of games and also placed second at a three-team tournament it played host to, which included two squads from Huntsville.

Sheema also toiled for a bantam boys' house league club in the Parry Sound Minor Hockey Association and was also on the Parry Sound Phantoms, a bantam girls' rep team that is part of the Ontario Women's Hockey Association (OWHA).

As for Naomi, a Grade 10 student at Parry Sound high school, she also cracked the roster of her school team. Naomi's high school squad placed fourth at the Georgian Bay championships this season.

She also suited up for a midget boys' house league side in the Parry Sound Minor Hockey Association and for the Phantoms at the midget girls' level, a club that advanced to the quarter-finals at the OWHA championships in Mississauga.

Though she plays defence, Naomi's coaches do on occasion move her up to a forward position.

"She's got a lot of heart and skates hard both ways," said Ontario North coach Steve Lindsay, who did utilize her both at forward and defence positions at the nationals. "I knew Naomi would do well because she's a very versatile player."

But given her choice, Naomi prefers playing defence.

"You can read the plays a little better," she said. "And I like being aggressive in the corner (trying to contain or move players)."

Lindsay also had praise for Sheema.

"She's pretty quick," he said. "She's like a cat in goal."

Both Taylor sisters have already been invited to participate at the 2006 NAHC. Though an official announcement has not been made, that tournament is expected to be held in Quebec.

Naomi said she was a bit disappointed at not winning some hardware at this year's NAHC.

"It was our first nationals so it would have been nice to bring something back," she said.

Ontario North was blanked 5-0 by Ontario South in its semi-final match and was then downed 7-3 by Saskatchewan in the bronze-medal contest.

The Quebec-based team called Eatern Door and the North won the gold medal, edging out Ontario South 4-3 in the championship final.

As for their futures, both Sheema and Naomi have lofty goals. They both hope to one day crack the roster of the Canadian national women's team. And they both have Olympic aspirations as well.