By Sebastian Kanally, Times Chronicle
Dreams of carrying a nation to win hockey gold all started in Osoyoos for Danica Maynard, a 15 year old hockey player who will be representing the U18 BC female hockey team at the 2023 Canada Winter games in P.E.I.
Maynard is the only player that hails from the South Okanagan to make the provincial U18 team, and one of only five 15 year olds to do so.
“We can’t be anything but proud. She works hard everyday,” her mother Thasha Maynard said when her, Danica, and her father Dean spoke with the Times Chronicle.
When asked what she is most excited about for P.E.I, Danica responded, “just everything, players, the team, the place, just getting to see other athletes that play other sports there as well.”
BC Hockey photo
It is a once in a lifetime opportunity because the Canada Winter Games only come around every four years and next time she will be too old to qualify.
The female hockey portion of the 2023 Canada Winter Games will take place Feb. 27, 2023 – Mar. 5, 2023. She joins nine returning players from the 2021 Female U18 Team BC that claimed gold at the 2021 Western Regional Championship.
When asked about the fact that she will be joining such a successful team she responded, “obviously it is stressful because you are going to be competing against them to get a spot, but it’s also just about learning from them and taking what they already know and putting it into your own game and taking their advice to help you.”
Danica’s dream is to play for Team Canada and go to the Olympics. “I just want to experience the moments that every hockey kid wants to be there for. When you are a little kid, for boys there is the NHL, but for us girls it is College, World Juniors, Hockey Canada, Team BC, and going to the Olympics and winning Gold medals.”
Making the BC U18 team is a big step towards achieving some of those goals and she hopes the tournament can be a catalyst for further opportunities in the years to come such as the U18 National Team who just claimed gold in Sweden earlier this month.
The U18 BC roster has her listed as forward and defense despite the fact that she is normally just a defensemen. “They were basically saying that I could play a defensive role or if needed that I can go forward. So it was pretty cool they trust me enough as a defense and forward.” Danica clarified.
Nikki Dawn Photography
Osoyoos is where her game started, but now she plays for the Penticton Okanagan Hockey Academy U18 – CSSHL team. She has been attending the Academy full time for three years since grade eight. She carpools everyday from Osoyoos to Penticton and puts in long days to make her dreams come true.
Danica compared her playing style to Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks: “Hughes is a two way defender. I am an offensive defensemen, but can also be a defensive defensemen. If we need to get a goal I can push to help score the goal, or if we are winning and it’s a close game, I can make sure no one gets a goal.”
Although Maynard’s favorite ice hockey team is the Tampa Bay Lightning, her favorite player is the dynamic Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche.
Her passion for the game which shines brightly when speaking with her all started in Osoyoos. She fondly recalled that some of the best times of her career so far were back when she was playing for the South Okanagan.
“It all started playing in the South Okanagan, the joy of the game,” Thasha said as Danica and her father Dean agreed. Dean continued, If she didn’t grow up in Osoyoos it would certainly be different and she may not love the game as much.
“The ice in Osoyoos was always free, so we would get up early in the morning at 6 a.m. for practice. Big towns can’t do that because the ice is fully booked. But in a small town, a beautiful town, it gives you that freedom to work on things.”
“It is nice having the support of the community backing her. Everyone is excited for her.” Thasha said joyfully.
The Rose Series
There was a rigorous process for being selected for the prestigious team. The first tryouts were April 2022, when 177 athletes participated in two Program of Excellence (POE) Open Camps, in Salmon Arm and Richmond. Following this 69 athletes were selected to participate in camps held in Penticton in July.
The athletes then continued to be scouted throughout the beginning of their respective league seasons until the top 26 were chosen to participate in a camp in Whistler in December. The remaining athletes participated in practices, dry-land training and two exhibition games against the U18 A Sea 2 Sky Bears before the final roster was chosen.
Danica also highly values developing the mental side of herself as an athlete and a person. She has a mental coach, Aaron Volpatti, who is a former NHL player himself who just published a book, Fighter: Defying the NHL Odds, about his personal hockey journey, adversity, and the power of the human mind for an athlete.
“He taught me how to visualize before games, and prepare.” Danica’s father Dean also focuses on how crucial that aspect of the game is, “you can have amazing equipment but you still have to have that mental toughness, that competitive edge or those tools won’t work.”
“I will say that is one thing about Danica that probably does help drive her, is she is ridiculously competitive, whether it be who gets up the stairs first, or who is going to win a boardgames, a card game, or anything, it just transpired into every part of her life,” Thasha commented.
Aaron Volpatti, Danica’s mental coach and former NHL player
Danica does very well in school also and is looking at going to play in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the states. “I have a path that I want to take in school. I want to go into Criminology.”
The female hockey portion of the 2023 Canada Winter Games will take place February 27, 2023 – March 5, 2023. Team BC’s first game is Feb. 27 against Saskatchewan.
