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Kevin Nagel Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports 23 | Friday, January 15, 2016 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com "Connected to your Community" Hornets celebrate 20 years of growth, success in girls' hockey By Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver staff Oakville Hornets girls hockey celebrated its 20th anniversary with multiple games and a public skate. Mayor Rob Burton, Sting the Hornet mascot and Hornets president Bob Pujo join friends, family and players at the December celebrations. | Photo by Justin Greaves ­ Oakville Beaver Hayleigh Cudmore has won gold for her country, but in her early days playing hockey with the Oakville Hornets the rewards the game offered were much simpler. "My first rep team, I'll never forget, we got team-issued track suits and I thought that was the coolest thing ever," the 23-year-old said. "Then in peewee we went to a tournament and rode the bus with the team, and I thought, `Whoa, we've made it.'" While a team bus seemed like the pinnacle at the time, as Cudmore continued to develop her skills with the Hornets and later the Oakville Ice juniors (since rebranded Hornets after becoming part of the minor hockey organization), she soon began to realize the possibilities the game had to offer. Cornell Big Red alumnus Three times she has represented Canada and won gold, once at the world under-18s and twice with the national development team at the Nations (formerly Meco) Cup. In college, she helped Cornell University win three conference titles in her four years with the Big Red. Now in her second season with the Calgary Inferno of the Canadian Women's Hockey League, she ranks in the top five in scoring among defencemen. While Cudmore wasn't an original Oakville Hornet, she joined the organization just a couple of years after it was formed. Until 1996, girls' hockey had been part of the Minor Oaks Hockey Association. Tim MacKay, the president of MOHA's girls division, announced that girls teams were going to form their own organization. That fall, the Hornets began play with 193 girls in six divisions. When Cudmore joined, her house league division had just three teams. Today, as the Hornets celebrate their 20th anniversary, the organization has grown to be one of the largest in the province, with 1,250 players on 73 teams. The pre-Christmas alumni game showcased the depth of talent the Hornets have produced as former Hornets squared off against the reigning Ontario Women's Hockey Association champion junior team. The alumni team, with an impressive number of college and university players, pulled out a 3-2 victory on a last-second goal by Mia Favretto. "To see (the Hornets organization) develop as much as it has, it's nice to be part of that foundation," said Favretto, who is now playing professionally in Austria with the Neuberg Highlanders along with another former Hornet, Erin Beaver. "Oakville's now on the map for hockey." Favretto was one of four Hornet players who won back-to-back NCAA Division III hockey titles with the Plattsburgh State Cardinals, along with Cami Leonard, Andrea Ziesmann and Caitlin Gilligan. Leonard not only enjoyed the opportunity to come back and play with former Hornet teammates, but also to see the program flourishing. "It was a very new program when I started playing, but they've had a lot of success," said the junior netminder at Plattsburgh, who leads all NCAA Division III goalies with a 0.51 goals-against average. "It's good to come back and see that." Hornets president Bob Pujo said women's hockey inclusion in the Olympics and Canada's success -- four straight gold medals -- since the Hornets organization was formed have certainly helped. But few associations have experienced the same growth as Oakville. For that Pujo credits the Hornets' organizational philosophy of equal playing time for all players in house league. "If you're down 2-1 and your best line is coming off, you stick to the fair-play rules. There's no double shifting, there's no shortened bench," he said. "Even in tournaments against teams who aren't fol- lowing the same guidelines, we'll play our way with our rules, regardless of the outcome. We're not discouraging winning, but we're encouraging development. It keeps the girls motivated and playing." Though he said coaches have a little more latitude in rep, Pujo said fairplay principles are still encouraged. It hasn't hindered the development of top-level talent. Eight players from the Hornets system played for Ontario at the under-18 national championship and four are currently playing for Canada at the world U18 championship. Pujo points to other factors that have helped the organization flourish: · promotion of the game at all age levels. The Hornets run an adult league with skills sessions taught by a former collegiate player · a co-operative board that puts the players' interests first Members of the Canadian under-18 team (from left) Kristin O'Neill, Emma Maltais and Julia Edgar celebrate a goal at the world under-18 championships. All three have played for the Oakville Hornets organization. | Scott Rosts -- Metroland Media Group · an emphasis on female coaches. The junior Hornets are one of just five Provincial Women's Hockey League teams with an all-female coaching staff "It's really cool to see where the organization is," said Lindsay Stenason who, along with fellow Hornet grads Ali Binnington and Lindsay Grigg, helped the RIT Tigers win a conference title in just their second year of Division I competition. "The growth in numbers is crazy, and it's amazing to see the level of play and how good the junior team is." While players once left Oakville to get more exposure to college scouts, now the team has become one to play for to be seen. Madison Field, a member of last year's Canadian U18 team at worlds, played her entire minor hockey career in Oakville but went to Stoney Creek for junior. After two years with the Sabres, she returned to Oakville for her final season. She, like many other former players, said Hornets' coach Bradi Cochrane played a big role in helping prepare her for college. "Last year was special," said the freshman at Ohio State. "Being able to leave winning as a Hornet was awesome." The Hornet organization has adopted the motto, `Driven by passion; inspired by excellence.' Young Hornet players don't have to look beyond the borders of their own town for that inspiration. "They've decided that player development is very important," Cudmore said, "and from what I've seen, across all the top teams, they're doing very well."