Budding stars from youth female hockey teams across Windsor-Essex took the ice with some of the game’s most prominent pioneers on Saturday. As part of the weekend-long Play for a Cure Fundraiser, 160 female players laced up their skates for the Girls Skill for a Cure event at the Vollmer Complex in LaSalle. Among the former players was Meghan Agosta, who has collected three gold medals and a silver medal in appearances donning the maple leaf at the Olympic Winter Games. “For us, it’s not about the gold medals and silver medal that we won, it’s about trying to inspire the younger generation to do something special in their lives,” Agosta told CTV News. The event garnered young ladies in age groups from U9 all the way up to U18. Regardless of age, Agosta said having role models you can look up to can be crucial when aspiring to reach lofty goals. “Growing up, I had many role models, and those are the ones who actually inspired me to be who I am today. And so, to now, for it to be full circle and them look up to somebody like myself, it’s pretty special,” Agosta added. As players took the ice, they had the opportunity to skate laps with women who were once in the same position. Players were divided and took turns playing games, navigating through drills, and getting signatures from legends such as Angela James. A lengthy list of career accomplishments meant James was one of the first two women inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2010. “We are able to give back to the community and to our game, it’s growing so much, and it’s continuing to grow,” James said. Since the creation of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) in 2023, James said the possibilities for women to have a future in hockey have grown significantly. “We didn’t have media, we didn’t have social media, we didn’t have, you know, the ability to promote. So now with all of those things, I think representation really matters,” James added. “To give back, and let the girls know that there was somebody like them, be like them, and skate like them, started the same way, and what the possibilities are.” All proceeds from the event support Play For A Cure.
