Photo by Scott Bolsby | The Advertiser Cass City freshman and Mid-Michigan Alliance defenseman Kelsey Anthony eyes the goal during Sunday's game against Northville. Anthony scored on this shot for her second goal of the season and added an assist in the 10-2 win.
CASS CITY — The Mid-Michigan Alliance Valkyrie, a girls’ hockey team, is in its second season of existence.
This season, Alliance coaches have tapped the Thumb area for new talent, including Cass City High School freshman Kelsey Anthony.
Anthony, 14, has been playing hockey for about four years, having started in the Huron County Hockey Association thanks to a fellow family member.
“I was 10 and my cousin (Jackson Anthony) decided he wanted to play hockey and I thought that it sounded cool, so I joined,” Kelsey Anthony said. “I had only skated a couple of times in my life, so I was really the only one out there that didn’t know how to skate. I put my mind to it, and it turned out amazing.”
While playing hockey in Huron County, she and Kylie Stirrett of Bad Axe were the only girls competing on a boys’ team. Since then, Stirrett also has joined Kelsey Anthony on the Valkyrie.
Anthony, daughter of Nick and Michelle Anthony, noted that being on a co-ed team forced her to be away from the rest of her team at times.
“I like both teams, but with the guys you were in a separate locker room,” she said. “There was me and one other girl playing, so we were the only two girls and we had to be in the girls’ locker room. We didn’t get to hear the discussions between periods, and now with having a locker room full of girls it’s more like a family and inclusive.”
Stirrett and Anthony were both invited to play for the Mid-Michigan Alliance.
“We were at one of our games and this team (the Valkyrie) was there watching us and invited us to come play at one of their games,” Anthony said. “I was kind of nervous at first, but now that I’ve joined, I’m just so happy.”
The Alliance is nicknamed the Valkyrie and is composed of girls from Valley Lutheran, Flint Powers, Midland Dow, Midland, Heritage, Haslett, Swan Valley, Freeland, John Glenn, Bay City Western, Standish-Sterling Central, Cass City and Bad Axe high schools.
Despite being from different areas and backgrounds, Anthony stressed that “the girls were so welcoming and were immediately asking what my name was and talking to me.”
Most of the Alliance’s games and practices take place at Bay County Civic Arena in Bay City, but a handful of games also give the players the opportunity to skate at The Dow Event Center in Saginaw, home of the Ontario Hockey League’s Saginaw Spirit.
“It’s pretty cool,” Anthony said with a smile, describing the feeling of playing on the same ice as the Spirit.
Sunday’s game, which took place at The Dow, was a 10-2 win for the Valkyrie over Northville. Anthony scored a goal and registered an assist.
That was nice,” she said of the goal. “I like taking the blue line shots.” The goal was her second of the season.
A forward for most of her short career, she made the switch to defense this season under the guidance of assistant head coach Colleen Linehan.
Linehan was a former hockey standout at Saginaw Nouvel Catholic Central before eventually playing for Harvard University and becoming a captain on the Harvard hockey team.
“I’ve played forward my whole life and Colleen introduced defense to me,” Anthony said. “I’ve been playing defense this season and enjoy it more than I thought I would. She is just a really good coach. She practices with me and is very caring.
Alongside Colleen is her husband and head coach Jack Linehan.
“Jack is so funny,” Anthony said. “He gives good meaningful talks at the start of every game. Overall, they are just really good coaches and are amazing to us.”
Kelsey Anthony, the oldest of four siblings including twin sisters Eva and Emily, and brother Chase, is aware that younger girls look up to her, and if they question if girls can play hockey, she has a sage piece of advice.
“Just go for it,” she said. “I thought when I first started playing that I was going to quit right away. I was the only one who couldn’t really skate, I got on the ice, and I didn’t know how to skate. I mean, here I am four years later, I love it and the people I’ve met are amazing. The coaches are great. I’d say just go for it if you want to try it.”
