Annabella VanBerkel learned her way around the rink early on, following her older brothers to their games and practices.
But VanBerkel is etching her own path on the ice now as a member of the Central York Junior Panthers, competing in the junior U22 league.
At just 15, she is among the team’s youngest players, but has proven she belongs.
The Grade 10 student at St. Peter's Catholic Secondary School in south-end Barrie started skating at age two. At age six, she was playing hockey with girls two years her senior.
“I followed after my brothers — I was always at the rink,” says VanBerkel, who thrived from the support her late grandfather provided. “He was a big part of hockey for me … He would come to all my games. Him and my dad, they were big supporters.”
VanBerkel had been planning on AA teams and then had an opportunity to play with the North York Storm, a U18 league. The team became the league champs and made it to the 2024 Esso Cup in Vernon, B.C., where, with an average age of 14.86 years old, the Storm was one of the youngest teams on the ice.
This year she finds herself playing as an under-ager with the Panthers, surrounded by much more experienced players.
Coach Steve Dempsey says he looks into the players before offering them a position to ensure they’re a good fit for the team.
“My biggest job as a coach, I feel, is getting the right people on the bus” to create the best environment allowing each player to to do their best work, he says.
Even though VanBerkel is several years younger than many of the players, Dempsey believed her values aligned with the team.
And she hasn’t disappointed.
The forward is the team’s top sixth scorer early in her career as the Panthers push through their current eight-game winning streak.
And she, like the other members of the team, has good future prospects. The Panthers have a 100 per cent placement rate. All have signed on with universities – and some were able to choose from several offers.
And now with the establishment of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL), they can add playing professional hockey to their list of goals.
VanBerkel is taking advantage of the wealth of experience that surrounds her on the team. And she feels she’s a good fit.
While she works hard to develop her game at the Aurora Community Centre, where the team is based, she’s also active on the ice at home in Barrie.
She hits the road four days a week to play and train with her team. In Barrie, she’s back on the ice with her skills coach as well as her skating coach, working on her shot, skating and overall game.
And she hopes to continue the team’s legacy by being drafted to a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) university team in the United States.
“Hopefully coming out of that is the PWHL. That’s my dream,” she says.
In the more immediate future, she hopes to secure a position on Team Ontario this summer, which provides a showcasing opportunity before the scouts they attract.
Coach Dempsey emphasizes to his players that those who came before built the foundation which now affords the young female players more opportunities.
Today’s players, he tells them, must now carry that torch forward by continuing to develop the game and those opportunities.
“A lot of these players really need to see themselves as the benefactors of the players ahead of them … (and) push the game forward on the female side,” he explains. “That whole idea of honouring those who came before them … they need to become even better.”
Now, he adds, the Annabella VanBerkels of the world have a good shot at making a career out of the game and earning a decent salary.
And by upping the game they can attract the crowds necessary to support professional women’s hockey and allow more opportunities for tomorrow's future players.