Girl on Ice: Madison Lawrence heats up the hockey rink
Submitted Photo
NORWICH – She was four years old when she first stepped onto the ice with a hockey stick in her hands. Now, Madison Lawrence can be found as the only girl as a member of the Utica Jr. Comets.
Lawrence’s success in the youth hockey world hasn’t come without a price. Even at the young level, playing hockey is a large obligation. Lawrence has made sacrifices just to play the great sport of ice hockey, and to make her dream of becoming a professional hockey player come true.
Most kids her age are having fun at slumber parties on the weekends. Most families are sitting down to have dinner together every night, but not the Lawrence’s.
Their nights and weekends are for practice and games.
During the winter season, Lawrence’s team is the Utica Jr. Comets Elite. Traveling over an hour one way, three times a week for practices, hockey has been an extensive commitment not only by Lawrence but by her family as well.
On top of her practice three times a week, Lawrence takes part in weekly dry land training and power skating sessions outside of her normal practices, along with skills and drills she works on at home in a room she dedicates hockey training to. “It’s a huge commitment for her,” said her father, Jason Lawrence. “That’s on top of her normal schoolwork.”
Lawrence carries grades of 90-percent or above across all subjects in school. Not only does she love to learn, Lawrence has earned Norwich Middle School Icon, an award that resembles “student of the month,” three times this school year. On top of her grades, she is also a part of the middle school orchestra as a violin player.
With all of that Lawrence is involved in, she does have to give up a lot more than any other middle school aged athlete does. However, sacrifice is apart of what she stands by as a member of the Utica Comet Culture.
The Comets Jr. handbook reads, “Our Comets stand fearless. They find something they would die for and breathe their life into it. But at the end of the day, it’s important to know there will always be people who have made far greater sacrifices. So take internal responsibility for your actions and surrender your own self for the common cause. Leaders sacrifice individual glory for the benefit of the team. These same leaders create leaders, just as Comets create Comets.”
In a primarily boys sport, she is the only girl on the Utica Jr. Comets Elite AAA 2005 hockey team, which is affiliated with the Utica Comets, a American Hockey League (AHL) team.
Being a member of this team, Lawrence and her teammates are given access to AHL players and their management. They also play at the same rink as the Utica Comets, giving players a unique opportunity to play where the pros play.
Another benefit of playing for the Utica Comets program is that Lawrence’s team is coached by five coaches who have played NCAA Division I, Division III, and/or professional hockey. The coaching staff includes Comets’ president Robert Esche, (NHL/KHL, U.S. National team), Adam Pawlick (SPHL, NCAA DI), Patrice Robitaille (IHL, WCHL, UHL, NCAA DI), Kris Smith (NCAA DIII), and Bill Horton (IHL, WCHL).
The wealth of knowledge and intensive teaching this team offers is the most in the area. Not many other organizations have such high quality coaching personnel. With the level of play these five coaches have participated in, they know what is need to prepare their players for the next level.
During the off season, Lawrence plays for two other teams in addition to the Utica Comets, the Boston Jr. Whalers and a Pro-Hockey Development team out of Toronto, Canada. Both teams are all-girl teams.
As the sole girl from NY to try out for the US National Development camp for the Atlantic district, a very large and competitive district, Lawrence was chosen to participate for the first time in 2016. In 2017, she was able to try out for the NY district camp and was chosen to participate in the week long development camp, which was held in June at Canton College.
Last year, Lawrence was one of two US citizens on a Canadian Girls team, and only one of two girls who were 2005 on a primarily 2004 age team, playing against 2004 European teams. Spending two weeks traveling in Europe to Milan Italy and Chamonix France, Lawrence played teams from Russia, Finland, Japan, and Germany.
In February, Lawrence was the only girl of seventeen players from the central NY area that was given the opportunity of a lifetime. She played on a team that competed in the Quebec International Pee Wee tournament, one of the most notable and prestigious tournaments in the world.
A separate team from all of her others, Lawrence went to tryouts in November 2017 and was chosen to play under the banner Syracuse Stars. She had familiar coaches as the staff included four of her five Utica Jr. Comets coaches – Pawlick, Esche, Horton, and Robitaille.
The tournament was played from February 7 to February 18 at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Quebec. The Syracuse Stars team played nine games in seven days and won games over three international opponents before falling in the quarterfinals to the eventual tournament champions, the Chicoutimi Saguenéens.
Lawrence hopes to play for the US National Women’s Hockey team, go to a NCAA D1 school, and eventually play professional hockey. For now, she will continue to put in the hard work everyday to make her future dreams a reality.
NORWICH – She was four years old when she first stepped onto the ice with a hockey stick in her hands. Now, Madison Lawrence can be found as the only girl as a member of the Utica Jr. Comets.
Lawrence’s success in the youth hockey world hasn’t come without a price. Even at the young level, playing hockey is a large obligation. Lawrence has made sacrifices just to play the great sport of ice hockey, and to make her dream of becoming a professional hockey player come true.
Most kids her age are having fun at slumber parties on the weekends. Most families are sitting down to have dinner together every night, but not the Lawrence’s.
Their nights and weekends are for practice and games.
During the winter season, Lawrence’s team is the Utica Jr. Comets Elite. Traveling over an hour one way, three times a week for practices, hockey has been an extensive commitment not only by Lawrence but by her family as well.
On top of her practice three times a week, Lawrence takes part in weekly dry land training and power skating sessions outside of her normal practices, along with skills and drills she works on at home in a room she dedicates hockey training to. “It’s a huge commitment for her,” said her father, Jason Lawrence. “That’s on top of her normal schoolwork.”
Lawrence carries grades of 90-percent or above across all subjects in school. Not only does she love to learn, Lawrence has earned Norwich Middle School Icon, an award that resembles “student of the month,” three times this school year. On top of her grades, she is also a part of the middle school orchestra as a violin player.
With all of that Lawrence is involved in, she does have to give up a lot more than any other middle school aged athlete does. However, sacrifice is apart of what she stands by as a member of the Utica Comet Culture.
The Comets Jr. handbook reads, “Our Comets stand fearless. They find something they would die for and breathe their life into it. But at the end of the day, it’s important to know there will always be people who have made far greater sacrifices. So take internal responsibility for your actions and surrender your own self for the common cause. Leaders sacrifice individual glory for the benefit of the team. These same leaders create leaders, just as Comets create Comets.”
In a primarily boys sport, she is the only girl on the Utica Jr. Comets Elite AAA 2005 hockey team, which is affiliated with the Utica Comets, a American Hockey League (AHL) team.
Being a member of this team, Lawrence and her teammates are given access to AHL players and their management. They also play at the same rink as the Utica Comets, giving players a unique opportunity to play where the pros play.
Another benefit of playing for the Utica Comets program is that Lawrence’s team is coached by five coaches who have played NCAA Division I, Division III, and/or professional hockey. The coaching staff includes Comets’ president Robert Esche, (NHL/KHL, U.S. National team), Adam Pawlick (SPHL, NCAA DI), Patrice Robitaille (IHL, WCHL, UHL, NCAA DI), Kris Smith (NCAA DIII), and Bill Horton (IHL, WCHL).
The wealth of knowledge and intensive teaching this team offers is the most in the area. Not many other organizations have such high quality coaching personnel. With the level of play these five coaches have participated in, they know what is need to prepare their players for the next level.
During the off season, Lawrence plays for two other teams in addition to the Utica Comets, the Boston Jr. Whalers and a Pro-Hockey Development team out of Toronto, Canada. Both teams are all-girl teams.
As the sole girl from NY to try out for the US National Development camp for the Atlantic district, a very large and competitive district, Lawrence was chosen to participate for the first time in 2016. In 2017, she was able to try out for the NY district camp and was chosen to participate in the week long development camp, which was held in June at Canton College.
Last year, Lawrence was one of two US citizens on a Canadian Girls team, and only one of two girls who were 2005 on a primarily 2004 age team, playing against 2004 European teams. Spending two weeks traveling in Europe to Milan Italy and Chamonix France, Lawrence played teams from Russia, Finland, Japan, and Germany.
In February, Lawrence was the only girl of seventeen players from the central NY area that was given the opportunity of a lifetime. She played on a team that competed in the Quebec International Pee Wee tournament, one of the most notable and prestigious tournaments in the world.
A separate team from all of her others, Lawrence went to tryouts in November 2017 and was chosen to play under the banner Syracuse Stars. She had familiar coaches as the staff included four of her five Utica Jr. Comets coaches – Pawlick, Esche, Horton, and Robitaille.
The tournament was played from February 7 to February 18 at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Quebec. The Syracuse Stars team played nine games in seven days and won games over three international opponents before falling in the quarterfinals to the eventual tournament champions, the Chicoutimi Saguenéens.
Lawrence hopes to play for the US National Women’s Hockey team, go to a NCAA D1 school, and eventually play professional hockey. For now, she will continue to put in the hard work everyday to make her future dreams a reality.
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