Megan Blackhurst doesn't mind playing with the big boys.
In fact, the 15-year-old member of the 2011-2012 Sundre Midget Huskies hockey team says she likes it very much.
ìIt's been good and I've enjoyed playing with my teammates,î said Blackhurst. ìI've been playing with the guys since I started hockey in Novice in Sundre so this is all good.î
Blackhurst is one of very few female players to ever play on a Sundre Midget team ñ Kaitlyn Shain and Dawn Dittorf suited up for the team in the 2000-2001 season.
The Huskies are Sundre's highest competitive level minor hockey team.
Although there is a female goalie on the Drayton Valley team, Blackhurst is the only female playing defence or offence in the 15- to 17-year-old player league this season.
While she does occasionally play forward, Blackhurst is usually found on defence.
Being the only female on an otherwise all male team doesn't faze Blackhurst in the slightest ñ and neither does the sometimes very physical play, she said.
ìSome of the guys on the other teams are really nice and some of them aren't,î she said. ìIf I'm uncomfortable I know that I can just tell my coach and he'll put me on the bench for a while.î
Blackhurst says her teammates and her coaches have been very supportive of her this season.
To make things all the more impressive, Blackhurst has been playing with an injured foot suffered in a quad riding accident last summer.
ìI tore ligaments and tendons and did some tissue damage,î she said.
Blackhurst says her girlfriends are amazed that she's playing on the Midget team.
ìSome of them say I'm crazy, and I just say it's not as bad as it looks,î she said.
Huskies coach Jeff Kitchner says Megan has fit in very well with her male teammates this season, always giving it her all.
ìShe's always trying. She gives it her best effort,î he said.
So far this season Megan's teammates haven't hesitated for a minute to stand up for her when the going gets rough, he said.
ìHer teammates stand up for her for sure,î he said. ìGenerally speaking with most of the teams we play they kind of let up a little on the rough play with her.
ìWe get some teams that are pretty brutal at times, so sometimes she will take a seat on the bench when things are getting a little out of hand,î he said.
Blackhurst says she plans to play on the midget team again in 2012-2013.
ìI would recommend it to other girls. It's a great experience to play with the guys at this level of hockey,î she said.
