At the age of four, Taylor Harris wanted to do
everything. She tried gymnastics for a few years. At
the age of eight, when her mother and grandmother
encouraged her to start ice skating lessons at Young
Arena in Waterloo, she discovered her love of the ice.
Thumbing through a magazine at a local skate shop,
she saw a figure skater on one page and a hockey player
on the next. She declared to her mother, “I’m not
going to wear the tutu thing.” A new female hockey
player was born.
Taylor Harris, Photo by Mike Walden
Through additional opportunities of co-ed rec
hockey and the “Waterloo Freeze,” an in-house league
for females ages eight to adult, Harris developed into
a strong player by the age of 11. By 12, she had set her
goal to one day play with the Waterloo Warriors, the
all-city and surrounding area’s high school team. Last
year she was allowed to practice with the team. This
year she reached her milestone of making the team.
The season runs November 2-February 24, followed
by the state tournament in March.
Now, at age 15, forward Harris is one of five
freshmen on the junior-varsity team and is the only
female member of the Waterloo Warriors. Weighing
in at just 105 pounds and standing a mere five feet
tall, No. 15 is nearly half the size of some of her teammates,
who range up to 235 pounds and six feet six
inches tall.
Waterloo Warriors’ Head Coach Shawn Weinke
said Harris is the third girl in his 10-year history with
the program. “Girls can be pretty fiery,” Weinke said.
“They don’t like to lose. That’s why they do well.”
He said very few girls take the step to play high
school hockey because they have to be very competitive.
“Taylor is unique,” he said. “She’s very competitive
and needs to be. Even though she’s taken her fair
share of injuries, she didn’t want to quit. She gets ornery
and wants to get out there. She likes the team
aspect and loves hockey.”
Being the only girl is not without its challenges,
Harris says, including an occasional feeling of not fitting
in, other people perhaps thinking she’s “really
prissy,” and not bonding with the team because of not
sharing the same locker room. While Young Arena
has a girls’ locker room, many rinks do not, so Harris
dresses elsewhere. She shares a room with her female
trainers when the team goes on the road.
On the ice, Harris’ teammates treat her like one
of the guys. If she has faced challenges of discrimination,
she has faced them down. Challenge is said to
build character; it also reveals character.
“Last year, a couple of seniors tried to demolish
me and see if I’d live through it. I did. Once they got
to know me, I think they liked me, or at least they
tolerated me.”
“She knows it’s tough out there and that you
get knocked around. She can be very feminine afterwards,
but during the game, she doesn’t complain.
She has earned the guys’ respect,” Weinke said, adding
that the team sticks up for her as if she were a
little sister. When she disappeared once in the bottom
of a pile during a “scrum,” or scuffle, she suddenly
emerged airborne. Later, the teammate who pushed
her out apologized for the flight, saying that she was
like tossing a pillow.
Cedar Rapids also has a girl on its team and thus
is accustomed to playing with a girl, but it’s a new
phenomenon for other teams. A referee has stepped
in at least once to stop unnecessary roughness toward
Harris.
Warrior teammate Josh Van Gundy, a junior
from Dike in his 14th year of hockey, said he was
“cool” with having Harris on the team. “There are not
a lot of chicks that are strong enough to play on a high
school team.”
Alex Quinones, a freshman from Northern
University High School in Cedar Falls, said, “I was
surprised [to see a girl on the team], but I wanted to
see if she could hang with the big guys. She proved
she could. She’s a hard worker, so I think she deserves
to be on the Warriors.”
“It shows that girls can do anything guys can.
It’s not like, ‘Oh my God, I’m so girly I can’t get hit’,”
said Clint Cole, a junior from East High who has
played hockey for at least a decade.
Harris has developed true grit, but it has not
been without some serious injuries. She has suffered
two concussions, ironically while playing with the
Waterloo Freeze, something she does for more time
on the ice. Although Weinke said women’s hockey
does not allow “checking,” or body contact, Harris’
mother and grandmother have observed that women
tend to be more vicious than male players.
Women have been a shaping force in Harris’
family. When asked about her role models, Harris’
reply would make any mom proud. “My mom is my
role model. She is very hard working.”
“Taylor’s one of those fortunate kids who doesn’t
have to study hard to get good grades. But if she did
have to study more, she’d figure out a way to fit it in,”
Toni Harris said. She expects her daughter to keep
her grades above a B average if she wants to stay in
hockey. Her daughter maintains a 4.0 grade point.
To maintain her fitness, Harris is on the ice
whenever possible and runs with the team. In practice
they spend two hours on the ice, followed by a
three-mile run. Toni says her daughter falls asleep
early during hockey season, often after soaking sore
muscles, which are part of the package.
Although highly athletic, Harris was told she
didn’t pass the physical fitness test in her school’s
physical education class because she was too short.
During off-season, she plays softball, which provides
a contrast in general speed and contact, and continues
to develop skills of catching and passing/throwing
and team dynamics. She also just signed up for track
to fill the gap between hockey and softball seasons.
Iowa has just a handful of female players in the
league, but the number is growing. Every year more
rinks accommodate women and add dressing rooms.
Girls have more opportunities outside of Waterloo
and Iowa. Minnesota and Wisconsin sponsor allgirl
high school teams. Nationally, there are all-girl
hockey academies and the USA Olympic Women’s
Hockey Team.
“If Taylor stays with it, there will be plenty of
opportunities for her,” Weinke said. “She can play
college hockey if she wants. Whether it’s hockey,
school or a job, she’s going to be very successful in
whatever she does.”
Harris would like to play college hockey and
major in coaching and minor as a sports trainer.
Her ultimate dream is to coach a U.S. hockey team,
and still play adult open hockey. She has started her
coaching career already, helping two nights a week
with younger hockey players.
Her advice to other girls with similar aspirations
is “If some guy says you can’t play because it’s a maledominated
sport, just keep going and someday you’ll
show them that you can play and that you are good.
Just reach for it and whatever you set your mind to,
you’ll do it. Don’t let anybody hold you back. Do
your best and you’ll get through it.
One of her favorite quotes is “It’s not the size of
the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”
With that attitude, Taylor Harris sets the ice on fire.
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