EXTRA CREDIT: Kate Marek
Kate Marek is from Alexandria, Va. and started playing hockey when she was five years old. She played on an all-boys team for most of her youth.
“Playing hockey wasn’t very popular in Virginia at that time and it was almost unheard of for girls to play,” says Marek.
It was not difficult for Marek being the only girl on a boys team. She seemed to fit in with her tomboy appearance and attitude. As she got older, things started to change. She moved up in age divisions. She went from a Squirt to a Pee Wee. The main difference between these age divisions is in Pee Wee, you can hit, and in Squirt, you cannot. Marek struggled being the only girl on a boys team when checking was allowed.
“Even the guys on my team could be jerks at times,” says Marek. “I don’t think they really gave me a lot of respect, and they even would go out of their way to hit me during practices.”
Marek started playing girls hockey when she was 13 and joined the Washington Little Capitals program. She was recruited to play Division II preparatory hockey at The Gunnery in Washington, Conn. during her high school career.
“Prep school hockey was very good and it opened up the doors for college,” says Marek.
After graduating from The Gunnery in 2005, she went on to play Division III hockey and lacrosse at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. She graduated from Hamilton in 2009.
Photo courtesy of Kate Marek.
Southern States Skate 