Just days after her 65th birthday, Wanda White took to the ice in Quebec City sporting a Zoomers Boomers jersey as one of the athletes representing Nova Scotia at the Canada 55+ Games.
White says to still be playing hockey at her age is “just a dream.”
“When I was 48, somebody dared me to go back on the ice,” said White — and she hasn’t stopped since then.
Competing in tournaments across the world, the retired emergency room nurse is now playing in the 65+ age category as part of the Canada 55+ Games. For the next four days, over 2,000 participants from across Canada will compete in 20 events including track and field, badminton, swimming, golf and even Scrabble in the event that takes place every two years.
White had to fight for the right to play 50 years ago. She says there weren’t any teams for girls.
“We had a petition when I was 14 years old,” said White.
The president of the minor hockey association in Halifax’s Fairview neighbourhood made them a deal: If the girls found enough players and coaches, he would get them ice time.
“So guess what? A lot of mothers, including my own, became hockey coaches that year and it just spread from there,” said White.
“Then what happened was I had a career, I had got married and there was no more room for growth in women’s hockey.”
But returning to her beloved sport decades later, White says it’s become a “bright light” for those who are part of the team — especially since she says those in her age group tend to experience lots of change.
“[At] 65, you got ailments. You get lots of people you know that are sick. You got, you know, changes in your life with your work,” said White.
“It’s not the Olympics. It’s fun, fitness, friendship here at these games.”
Camaraderie and competition
Pierre Harvey says that’s what the competition is all about.
Ambassador for the Canada 55+ Games, Harvey says the focus is not on “super fit” athletes, but to encourage balance and foster camaraderie.
“There is no age [limit] to have fun in your life, to be fit,” said Harvey. “Because the level of competition is not so high, so the social side of the sport takes [its] place.
Josy Bernaquez’s teammates with Quebec’s hockey team are staying together at a campground while they compete at the games this year. She calls it sisterhood.
A teacher who just recently retired, Bernaquez says she’s been playing hockey most of her life — first hitting the ice at age nine.
The youngest player on the Quebec team at 56 years old, Bernaquez says seeing women decades older than her continue playing is “very inspiring.”
“I find it amazing,” said Bernaquez. “It’s still like a rough sport on the body. You know, you can fall. And so I find it amazing that women have the courage and the bravery to get on ice.”
Denise Ballerman with Ottawa’s Ice-oholics is hoping to push the age categories even further.
She hopes that in four years’ time there will be a dedicated group of players aged 70 and older, just like the men.
She says players in their age group didn’t have the same opportunities as young women today.
“The women’s league now, oh, I would give anything to be able to play in a women’s league with them,” said Bonnie Rooney, a player with Zoomers Boomers of the PWHL.
“I’m so jealous of them, but so proud.”
Picking up the stick in her 50s after not being able to play in her young adulthood, Rooney was all smiles even after losing a tight game on Tuesday.
“It means everything,” said Rooney. “I really can’t describe in words how it makes me feel.”