Taryn Atkinson was too young to play ringette in the 2015 Canada Winter Games but remembers it well being part of the crowd.
Ringette was the best-attended event of the two-week Games and the Prince George Coliseum (now Rolling Mix Concrete Arena) was rocking, especially for the medal-round games.
In two weeks, the 16-year-old Atkinson will get her chance to play in another high-profile tournament when she laces up her skates as captain of the Prince George Storm under-19 team in the Western Canadian championships.
"It's going to be exciting," said Atkinson. "We hosted provincials last year and this will be on a bigger stage with the best teams from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and we'll be playing in front of all our friends and family.
"I was just a little kid (for Canada Winter Games) but I was here for every single B.C. game and every single game and I remember just watching them and thinking that's what I want to be like when I'm older.
"The whole stands were full for that gold-medal game and we want as many people as we can cheering us on because usually we don't get that. We always have to travel, we never get to play in front of our town, so it will be exciting to play in front of everybody."
The Storm has a blended roster that includes seven players from Quesnel, six from Prince George and four from Houston. They've grown up as rivals from neighbouring associations from the time they were bunnies just starting to learn the game and this is the first season they've banded together on the same team.
"We've always played against Houston and Quesnel, they've been our rivals, so it was kind of hard at first to come together as a team," said Atkinson, whose team defeated Houston in the provincial under-16 B final last year at the Kin Centre. "Every time we played them we'd go as hard as we could so it's fun now to play with them."
There are just two 18-year-olds on the Storm roster. Most of the players were born in 2003 and will have their 17th birthdays this year. They will be one of the youngest teams playing in the five-team under-19 division at Westerns.
Storm forward Lauren Pastachak, 16, lives in Quesnel but is well-acquainted with most of her Prince George teammates, having played with them two years ago on the Zone 8 team in B.C. Winter Games in Kamloops and on double-A (now called zone) provincial teams.
"This is the first time I've played with the Houston players and they're super-nice to play with," said Pastachak. "I've never been to Westerns before but I think it's going to be a great opportunity."
Pastachak knows she will have a large cheering section from Quesnel making the trip to Prince George and predicts her team will not disappoint them
"We're going to do pretty good," she said. "We're still learning a bit how to play with each other and how each other works, but I think we have it down pat now because we've been playing with the Houston girls since October."
This season the Storm has played in four tournaments against provincial rivals, visiting Vernon, Richmond, Kelowna and Langley. Last weekend in the under-19 provincial tournament in Coquitlam the team went 1-3 in the preliminary round and lost 10-7 to Vancouver in the consolation final.
The Storm wanted to go in to the five-team Western Canadian championship as Team B.C. but the Kelowna Heat locked that honour after winning the B.C. under-19 title for the seventh-straight year, beating Burnaby 5-2 in Sunday's final in Coquitlam.
Atkinson has been called up by the Prince George Rush as an injury replacement and will get a chance to play for another provincial championship this weekend in Salmon Arm, where the Rush will try to defend its open (18-plus) division title the team won last year at Kin 1.
Five Storm players - Hannah Cockle, Mackenzie Eberle, Taylor Strandbridge, all of Quesnel, and Riley Telford and goalie Laura Oldring, both of Terrace - are in their Grade 12 years and are moving on to university next season. They won't be playing ringette beyond the Western Canadian tournament.
"It's kind of the last kick at the can for them and it will be a little emotional for them but that said they will be super-excited when it comes time to game time," said Storm head coach Devin Atkinson, who shares the coaching duties with Scott Fairless and Becky Shetchley. "Westerns is going to be super-special for them."
Two other Prince George teams, the under-14 Northern Lights and open (18-plus) division Rush, will represent the city in the 25-team Western Canadian tournament, March 25-28.
