From a young age, senior Alice Ross fondly recalls accompanying her family to Vallco Shopping Mall every Friday for skating lessons. Born to Canadian parents who enjoy playing and watching ice hockey, Alice believes that this simple weekly activity helped the family connect. Though Alice remembers enjoying her experience skating, she felt that an aspect was missing. That’s when she decided to begin a new sport — ice hockey.

“My sister Gillie and I have pretty similar interests and we both really like sports,” Alice said. “We both play physical games because we’re both big and strong, so wrestling and hockey, or really high-contact sports, aren’t really a big issue for us.”

Ice hockey has stuck with Alice and her sister, sophomore Gillie Ross, throughout their youth. Now, they both play for the San Jose Jr. Sharks, though on different teams due to their age difference. Alice plays the forward position while Gillie serves as the goalie. The sisters attend practice three to four times a week to improve on their skills, and they often travel to out-of-state tournaments in places such as Florida and Chicago. 

“Hockey really changed our lives,” Alice said. “When we get home from school, we eat quickly and then we go to hockey practice. Myself, my sister and my brother all play hockey. So our teams would have practices across the week, but we’d all have to go to everyone’s practices. We learn to do homework quickly and time management was a really big thing. There were a couple of kids who were there for siblings’ practices and we just hung around the rink together.”

Alice began learning ice hockey at the age of five, and now has a strong understanding of the inner workings of the game. They explain that ice hockey has a total of two teams of 12 to 18 players and is divided into groups of six, each group with three forwards, two defense and one goalie. The objective is to get the puck across the rink and into the opposing team’s goal. Alice notes the intensity and adrenaline that the sport brings with its fast-paced movements. 

“Ice hockey is really fast and it’s a really physical game as well,” Alice said. “When you’re skating, you can go so much faster than when you’re running. My top speed is probably 16 to 17 miles per hour, but some of my teammates can hit 20 miles per hour. The gear is essentially like a full body suit of armor of hard plastic; it’s a lot because the game is so quick and it’s so physical. There’s a lot of passing as well, so it gets even faster. It’s a complicated game, which is what makes it so interesting.”

One of Alice’s favorite memories playing ice hockey with their sister dates back to when they had just begun playing the sport. Early into joining the program, girls ranging from 5 to 8 years old all played together, allowing the sisters the unique opportunity to play on the same team.

“Gillie wasn’t playing goalie at that time, but she was a really strong player,” Alice said. “We both played forwards and we were on the same line, so we played together. They called her the ‘tiny ball of rage.’ She was four feet tall and really fast and just relentless, so it was really fun playing together.” 

Archbishop Mitty High School junior Jasmine Shum has played on the same team as Alice and Gillie, over the span of two different years. Two seasons ago, Shum played on the same team as Alice and recalls her positive personality and contagious energy in the team. In the most recent season, Shum and Gillie, who both played the position of goalie, enjoyed challenging each other during practice. As a result of playing on the same team as Alice and Gillie, Shum has witnessed the positive interactions between the sisters. 

“Alice and Gillie are really competitive with each other but in a positive way,” Shum said. “They always go to each other’s practices and sometimes Gillie jumps in for Alice’s practice. Alice really wants to score on Gillie but Gillie really wants to save a shot, so it’s fun to just watch and see how they interact with one another.”

Alice explains that she and Gillie are able to bond over news and updates in the hockey world, such as discussing their favorite pro hockey teams. In addition to strengthening their relationship, they say hockey has also taught them important values that they will continue to take with them throughout life.

“Hockey has taught me perseverance, grit, how to be a team player and how to take charge,” Gillie said. “Because I’m a captain on my team, it’s also about learning responsibility and leadership. Even outside of hockey just in everyday life, being able to work with other people and communicate and being able to put your trust in other people and trusting them to support you back is important. Hockey has definitely made me a more resilient person, and it’s helped me to be tough, but also it taught me how to be part of a team and part of a family.”

Alice explains that though sometimes the teams change slightly, for the most part, people don’t leave the organization during their youth experience. As a result, Alice has had the opportunity to play ice hockey with the same girls for the past 10 years, which has strengthened the bond between them. 

“In the end, there’s not much of a difference between a teammate and a sister when you’ve played so long together,” Alice said. “We have loyalty to our friends and loyalty to our team — it’s really been an experience. When I play with Gillie and I play with my teammates, we’re all a big family.”