She Shoots...She Scores
Author: Barbara Stewart (bighair@coastnet.com)
Book: She Shoots...She Scores
Copyright: 1998
Andria is well known across the world. She's the one responsible for women's hockey -- on the Internet that is! Andria has links to more than 500 different women's hockey sites from her web pages at www.whockey.com.
It started when Andria was attending the University of Toronto; she decided to make herself a home page as a challenge. As she was surfing the web for women's hockey links, she was astonished to discover none could be found. So Andria took it upon herself to create a centralized index for women's hockey information.
Since their creation in the fall of 1994, the women's hockey web pages have really taken off! There is currently information on women's hockey in 23 different countries, university hockey results, and results from international competition. And for anyone who wants to find out more about women's hockey; in Canada, the US, internationally, or even locally -- she has it all. Some of the statistics for her women's hockey site include:
Andria loves all sports, but is especially fond of hockey. She started her hockey career in 1976, when she signed on to play with a boys' minor hockey team in Peterborough, but switched to a girls' team the following year.
"I started skating when I was 4, on our pond on our farm just east of Peterborough, Ontario. While I was in my third year of figure skating, I asked my mom if I could play hockey the next year. My parents agreed, and I started playing on a boys' house league team when I was 8 years old."
Hockey is popular in Peterborough, so Andria had no trouble finding a girls' team to play on. She also played for her high school when they won the hockey championships for 4 out of the 5 seasons she was there. She attended the University of New Hampshire on a full hockey scholarship, where she received Rookie of the Year Award in 1987, the Wildcat Winners Club Scholar-Athlete Award in 1989, and the Alumni Association Student-Athlete Award in 1990. Andria was the leading scorer for UNH for 3 years, and earned over 170 points. Andria went to Switzerland for the 1992-93 season and played for the DHC Langenthal hockey team of the Swiss Women's A league, where she quickly became one of the high scorers.
Andria continued her education at the University of Toronto. While finishing her masters degree in computer science, she played for the Varsity Blues. They won the OWIAA championship 4 out of the 5 years that she was on the team (1990-1996).
Andria's selection to the gold winning Team Canada in 1992 and 1994 Women's World Hockey Championships, held in Tampere, Finland and Lake Placid, New York, besides being one of the high points in her career, saw her become one of the highest scorers, with 5 goals and 4 assists in 5 games from the 1992 series.
She also plays roller hockey during the summer, and won the gold medal with her team, the Toronto Tornado, at the 1996 North American Roller Hockey Championship in Chicago.
"I started playing a little pickup in-line hockey with some guys in Toronto, and then in 1995 Sandy Nimmo put together the Toronto Tornado team that competed at the 1995 NARCh."
Since then, Andria has added two more golds at the 1997 USA Hockey Inline Cup, and the Canadian Hockey Inline Nationals. She was chosen for the 1997 Inline Hockey News Amateur female athlete of the year, having been the top scorer at all 5 tournaments, scoring a total of 92 points (49 goals, 43 assists) in 26 tournament games.
"I really enjoy playing in-line hockey! For me, the differences provide new challenges, it was like a breath of fresh air to try a new sport that is so similar to a sport that I love so much. I also like the fact that I can lace on my in-line skates and just go to an outdoor arena in Toronto anytime I like ... no planning to arrange ice time."
For Andria's 1997 roller hockey season, she'll be playing with the Toronto Franklin-Labeda Typhoon.
Andria believes it would be great if a professional hockey league for women became a reality.
"Some think it's too early for the sport, and claim the talent pool is not deep enough yet. One thing is for certain though, interest in the sport is definitely at a peak after the Olympics, so this might be the time to jump on the bandwagon. We should definitely see something by 2002, when the talent pool broadens."
To find out more about Andria and her web pages, or to find out about women's hockey, or just to find a link to other women's sports, her address is www.whockey.com
Barb Stewart/Chris Gudgeon
tel/fax: 250-595-6645
Current Address. 3130 Uplands Rd., Victoria BC V8R 6B5
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