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Photo courtesy Jackie McDonnell
Jackie McDonnell and daughter, Sarah Beth, hold the first-place banner Jackie's team won at the Brampton ice hockey tournament. |
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It’s all in the family
Local hockey moms pass on their love of the game
By Michael Iacuessa
Banner Correspondent
PROVINCETOWN — The McDonnells are a family that sticks together, literally.
Jackie McDonnell, now 45, began her passion for hockey growing up in Montreal, her parents having to fight to get her onto recreational and school teams.
Now there are more female hockey players in her family than there were in her old neighborhood. Three of her daughters play the sport, as well as her son. Adding to the mix, her wife, Joni Kosmach, is a veteran goaltender.
“I always wanted to play long enough and stay in shape to play on the same lines as my daughters,” said McDonnell. “A couple years ago, my older daughter and I were able to start skating together on teams. It really keeps us close as a family. We spend a lot of a time as a family unit.”
In recent years, Jackie had skated the same defensive line with her eldest, 16-year-old Sarah Beth, at the largest annual women’s hockey tournament in Brampton, Ontario. This spring, Sarah Beth and 13-year old Kelly were representing the Cape Cod Sharks Midget team, so Jackie instead formed a team with acquaintances from around the country.
In 37 years of attending the tournament, Jackie struck gold for the first time, her squad comprised of players from Las Vegas, Chicago, Detroit and Cape Cod capturing the women’s division. She said it was an extra thrill to have her daughters cheering her on.
Since the family moved to Provincetown from Chicago last summer, Jackie has been impressed with the level of women’s hockey on Cape Cod. As a veteran of the sport and, along with her wife, a certified USA Hockey coach, the assessment does not come lightly.
In fact, the two, who have been a couple for four years, played on a team that won the 2005 Illinois State Championship. And as part of Jackie’s effort to develop hockey programs in the Midwest, one of her teams was invited to skate with the U.S. Olympic Team before the 2002 competition in Salt Lake City.
For Sarah Beth, having her mother as a coach and a fellow player at different times has been a great experience.
“She was always the coach for one of our teams,” said Sarah Beth of herself and Kelly while in youth hockey. “It’s really cool to have played on teams with both my moms together. It’s really fun.”
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PHS Sports
Nauset Sports |
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Jun 8th, 2006