CALEDONIA— Watching the Haldimand River Cats Novice House League team, it’s hard not to see the smiles and hear that infectious laughter as they develop that strong passion for hockey.
Among those wearing the River Cats Novice House League jerseys were two Six Nations players in Kendall Porter and Jorja Cayuga who both had those trademark grins following their February 27th game against Ancaster at the Haldimand County Arena.
Playing solid defence and is a strength of the Haldimand River Cats Novice House League team.
“There are a lot of things I like about hockey,” Porter said. Porter, who is 7 years-old and in her first year of hockey mentioned that her favorite part of playing hockey is “Making new friends.”
In Novice House League, there is no keeping tract of the score, as success was determined by letting the players have fun while they develop those fundamental skills.
“I wanted to try it,” Cayuga said about playing.
Also, in her first year, this 6 -year-old stated that her favorite part of hockey is “Skating.” Showing their true loyalty as friends, Cayuga without any hesitation replied that her favorite hockey player is “Kendall” while Kendall said that her favorite player is “Jorja.”
Meanwhile when asked about his novice house league team their coach Todd Martindale couldn’t say enough.
“The big thing is that everyone is happy and having fun,” Martindale said. “They (players) are joking around on the bench and they ask funny questions. We want them to have fun. The more girls playing the sport the better.”
In terms of Cayuga and Porter, the coach replied, “They are both getting better and always smiling.” Martindale also added, “It’s just great to see all the girls having a good time. Everyone (from game to game) plays in net and it’s been a great season.”
