Tsawwassen teen follows passion on the ice and in music

Tsawwassen's Sara Glennon, 14, is off to the BC Winter Games in Vernon this week to represent Delta in ice hockey. Parents Elisa and Jamie said they are proud of their daughter's achievemetns on the ice, which started out just four years ago as the only girl playing on a boys team.

Philip Raphael photo

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Tsawwassen teen Sara Glennon is used to battling against the odds and facing stern challenges.

When she first laced up her skates to play ice hockey two seasons ago she did so on an all boys team because of a lack of rep hockey for girls locally. During those two years she learned the game amid the heavy traffic of body checking and emerged as a skilled forward. Previous experience as a ringette player gave the now 14-year-old strong skating skills to ride out and avoid some of the collisions.

At South Delta Secondary the Grade 9 student has also taken on the challenge of dyslexia which often makes it hard for her to focus on school work.

But she has come through it. And this week all the hard work has paid off with a trip to North Okanagan to represent Delta on the ice at the B.C Winter Games in the Greater Vernon area.

Parents Elisa and Jamie say they are extremely pleased with their daughter's accomplishments.

"We're very proud of her, because I think it's fair to say that Sara struggles at school," says Elisa, a teacher at SDSS. "So I think she puts her extra effort into her passion, the things that she's good at. So, we're proud of her in that regard because school is not easy for her."

While the hockey with boys is over—she now plays girls AA rep hockey with the Richmond Ravens club—the competitive nature of the sport remains.

"Even though there's no body checking, don't fool yourself, they're still really physical," says Jamie.

"When she wants the puck she goes after it," says Elisa.

"It's a lot different," Sara says. "You get more (offensive) chances instead of playing with the boys who tend to pass to themselves."

And that new part of her game stood Sara in good stead as she built on her confidence to take part in a U16 selection camp for the B.C. Winter Games just before the end of December at Planet Ice in Coquitlam where she won a spot on the Zone 4 (Delta) team.

Sara says the coaches told her they liked her speed and shooting ability, which comes as no surprise to her mom.

"I think playing with the boys was a good transition from ringette because the ringette skaters are quite strong," Elisa says. "It was what she needed in order to get where she is now."

Away from the rink Glennon plays volleyball and swims competitively in the summer.

But her other great passion doesn't require pads, a helmet or good form in the water.

"I like to sing," she says.

She started taking lessons in Grade 7 and now she sings a wide variety of styles—from opera to country pop star Taylor Swift.

"She's quite accomplished, that's for sure," adds her father.

"She sang lots in front of people, and I keep bugging her to sing O Canada at a (ice hockey) tournament," says Elisa. "She will one day."

When it comes to deciding where her path lies in the future, Sara says right now it's divided between time on the ice and time with a a microphone in her hand.

"I'd like to make it to a national team some day," said. "And with singing, I'd like to just get known."

Elisa says she is happy Sara has two passions to focus on that allow her to get "that little boost in confidence to get her through school."

"I think she's a huge role model for a lot of people out there who don't necessarily think they're great students and struggle," Elisa says. "As long as they can find a passion they can go after and achieve and show they are good at things, they can get through anything."

editor@southdeltaleader.com