Gender equity is a social goal that is also currently a hot button issue in the world of high school and collegiate sports. Although equal opportunities do exist in athletic events, it is not as commonly seen for the gender lines to be crossed on the playing field, except for when daring young men and women choose to follow their passions, blind to society’s gender role expectations. Here at North Penn, junior Dara Clowser is the only female on the Knights hockey team.
“While it is not common you see a female playing ice hockey, Dara Clowser has been a member of the North Penn Ice Hockey family going all the way back to elementary school. She is a regular player on the team and everyone treats her with the same respect they would every other player on the team. With Dara being in the program so long, the team never really had to adjust. They have been playing ice hockey together since middle school and all have the same common goal of doing what it takes for the Varsity team to win a Flyers Cup and a State championship,” said head coach Kevin Vaitis.
Clowser began playing in 5th grade where she made the B team. The following two years Clowser was on the A team after which she then moved up to the JV team the following year. This year Clowser plays swing and gets time on both JV and Varsity.
“I was terrible, so bad, and I always thought to myself why am I doing this especially because I was just starting and playing with guys. I thought it was so scary because I was like oh my gosh they are going to make fun of me, at the first try out I didn’t even have the right equipment and I was so nervous but they just made me feel at home. I was so scared but as the years have gone by I have gotten so much more comfortable with the guys. At times you feel like you’re kind of left out at times but they really do a good job of making me feel comfortable and very welcomed. At team events I have to get changed in my own locker room but sometimes it’s not always a locker room because at some rinks you have to get changed in the bathroom. It’s sometimes lonely and boring but as soon as I’m done I go and join the rest of the guys.
The transition from middle school to JV was the hardest for Clowser because you go from a level where you don’t check or hit to JV where it’s a quicker pace. This year she had to learn how to transition from JV to Varsity. The Varsity team is more systematic and also includes a major increase in physicality and intensity.
“It may be weird but I find it fun to get checked because I get so much anger that it makes me play better. I can’t give hits very well but I just get back up every time. Some games other players are so physical because they think it’s so funny to hit a girl so they just do it because they don’t care. Then other times they think it’s so messed up so they don’t go near me. It just depends on who we play,” commented Clowser.
“There are not many differences for Dara being on the team compared to every other player. She practices and plays in games with the team. She travels on the bus to away games with the team and she is an ice hockey player on the team just as much as Matt Stella and Jeremy Snyder are,” said Vaitis.
Although many people may view it strange that Clowser continues to play in what is considered a “male sport” to her it’s just second nature. She may not be the biggest or toughest on the rink but the joy that the sport brings her outweighs everything else.
“My favorite part of hockey is the joy that I have from it because I look forward to going to practice whenever we have it. We go out there and it’s just basically second nature. People always say oh isn’t it hard to shoot or oh isn’t it hard to skate but it just comes to you, almost like writing, you just do it. It sounds so cliché but you go out there and literally everything goes away and you don’t think about anything, you just play. I feel like I’m two different people like when I’m at school people are like oh my God you play ice hockey? You’re so tiny but then I get here and it all comes out and I’m just myself. I’m more comfortable on the rink because I feel like nobody really judges you out there. Sometimes I feel the pressure but I just go out there and do my thing,” said Clowser.