Aprilia Gedge was told she ran like a girl. Swift on her feet and constantly honing in on a solid check, Gedge put up with sexist barbs that were meant to hurt and chase her from the sport she loved.
For one year, it worked.
The preteen box lacrosse player was routinely insult by opponents, all of them boys her own age. She said her teammates also gave her the cold shoulder, failing to partner with her for drills and selecting her last for training exercises. She found little comfort in her coach, who she saw as an intimidating presence who favoured the top five prospects on her peewee team, the undefeated 2013 provincial champions out of the 麻豆传媒映画Minor Lacrosse Association.
鈥淚t was really hard. I definitely got a lot of name calling by the other teams,鈥� said Gedge, who is in Grade 8 at Fraser Academy and turned 13 in December.
She held her own on the floor but said, 鈥淭he boys were always a lot stronger and faster. I was always picked last. I鈥檇 never have a partner.鈥�
After the close of that winning season, Gedge felt like a loser. She sat out the next summer season of box lacrosse, deterred from playing among boys and discouraged from driving to the suburbs to play on one of dozens of regional girls teams.
This year, she doesn鈥檛 have to compromise. The 麻豆传媒映画association launched its first girls box lacrosse team, a bantam squad with three experienced players and a handful of athletes otherwise new to the sport known as the fastest on two feet.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been really fun playing with girls because we all understand, we鈥檙e all at the same level,鈥� said Gedge. So far she鈥檚 noticed two differences compared to competing with boys.
Among the girls, she said, 鈥淲e all talk to each other, we don鈥檛 leave anyone out.鈥�
The players emphasize running over passing, which demands greater fitness. And Gedge said her new teammates also show a penchant for violence.
鈥淕irls like to fight. If they get checked, they鈥檙e pulling off their gloves and trying to punch someone. They lose their temper a little too fast and then boom 鈥� they鈥檙e ready to knock someone down.鈥�
These girls, they run for miles and make fists like born pugilists.
麻豆传媒映画Minor Lacrosse Association started its girls bantam team because of the leadership of a few parents, including Dan Janda, Angela Pardek and Jenn Sirmul.
Pardek took a coaching clinic and Janda advocated the club for a team. His daughter, like others on the squad, .
Until this box lacrosse season, which started this month and is played indoors on the concrete of dry hockey rinks, 麻豆传媒映画players and their families travelled to Burnaby, New West, Port Moody or other suburbs to play on one of numerous teams.
鈥淔or the last three years, I released on average 10 girls in a range of age groups to other associations to play with such teams in Burnaby or New Westminster,鈥� said the association鈥檚 past president Michael O鈥機onnor. 鈥淭here were never enough from one division to form a team in Vancouver.鈥�
The B.C. Lacrosse Association is actively promoting lacrosse for girls, and nearly 800 play box lacrosse in the region. In New Westminster and Coquitlam, the two leagues each have close to 185 girls playing on 10 teams, a total greater than the number of boys that played in 麻豆传媒映画last year. There are six girls teams in Burnaby and five in Port Coquitlam.
The girls lacrosse team is the first in the history of the 麻豆传媒映画amateur association but it鈥檚 not the first in the city. In the late 1920s, the 麻豆传媒映画Pirates competed against the Richmond Milkmaids and Burnaby Cougars in a four-team league that disbanded 15 years later because of the Second World War.
The Pirates won the championship title five years in a row.
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Before a team formed in their city, team manager Sirmul ferried her daughter, Kate Ewanchook, to games and practices around the region. The pre-teen started playing lacrosse and hockey with boys when she was still in kindergarten, but for the past four years played on girls teams in Burnaby and most recently in Port Moody.
鈥淪he came the age where she wanted to play with girls,鈥� said Sirmul, whose 10- and 16-year-old sons also play for Vancouver. 鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to see all three kids are wearing the same jersey.鈥�
She credited the team鈥檚 coach, Dan Janda, with attending countless association meetings to get the team started, but Sirmul was also adamant the girls have a female role model as one of their leaders.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 have a girls team without a woman on the bench. It鈥檚 absolutely necessary,鈥� said the team manager.聽
Like Gedge who soldiered on with the boys, when Erin Quon was growing up in Vancouver, she never opted to play outside the city on other girls teams. The 24-year-old engineer stuck it out as the only girl in the box until she went to Queen鈥檚 University and played on the women's varsity field lacrosse team.
When she signed up at the age of 12, obsessed with this ball and stick sport she鈥檇 just read about in a , Quon said, 鈥淚 just assumed it wouldn鈥檛 really matter if it was with boys or girls or co-ed.鈥�
Back in the city working in her field, Quon is stepping up as a leader in the lacrosse association where she got her start. She鈥檚 coaching a 麻豆传媒映画Minor peewee boys team, setting the example for all young players that it鈥檚 powerful to run like a girl and lead like one, too.
