someday like to take over her
father’s farm outside Gladstone
and spend her life on the land.
“Yeah, that’s a dream
of mine,” she said. “I don’t
know what my dad wants
to do, but that’s my dream.
That’s why I want to do
agriculture at school.”
Wild grew up on the farm
in Western Manitoba and
started playing hockey at
the age of four in Gladstone.
Like most goalies, she started
out as a forward, but when
she moved to Winnipeg with
her mother for Grade 3, she
started having other ideas.
“I remember my mom
really wanted to talk me out
of it,” said Mckenna, 19. “But
I was determined to be a
goalie and I just begged my
mom to let me be a goalie.”
So in Grade 4, at the age of
eight, she got her wish. “No
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“
I WAS
DETERMINED
TO BE A
GOALIE
”
matter the sport I played, I
wanted to play the position
that got the most action,”
she said. “In basketball,
I wanted to be the point
guard. In volleyball, I was
the setter. In softball, I’m a
catcher. It just made sense
that I would be a goalie.
“And I think I’m suited to
being a goalie. I can handle
that situation where you’re
out on the ice by yourself,
but you still have to play
within your team. I like being
that individual on a team.”
After she became a
goaltender, Wild’s hockey
career took off. She played
Twins Double A on a city
championship team that
included Polar Ice goalie
Katrina Mizeracki and where
Mckenna was named top goalie
in the league with a GAA of
0.20. Then, in Grades 10 and
11, she played for Eastman in
the Triple A midget league.
“That was a good league,
but we had a terrible team,”
she said. “We just couldn’t
win. That was really hard.
“But then in my Grade 12
year, I got the chance to play
with Central Plains (where she
went 22-14-4 with a 1.55 GAA)
and that was a real step up.
Playing for Ferdi (Nelissen) was
great and we had a good team.
That was a really fun year.”
After she graduated from
high school, she accepted a
scholarship to play at Red
Deer College in the Alberta
Colleges Conference.
“But in May of 2016, Red
Deer dropped out,” she said. “I
kind of didn’t know what to do
and then, in June, NAIT called
me so I committed to NAIT,
but I played only one year.
“I wanted to go into
agriculture, but at NAIT I was
taking the personal fitness
trainer program. It was OK,
I liked it, but I knew I would
never do anything with it. I
know I should be in agriculture.
Right now I’m just working and
trying to figure the best place
to go and take agriculture.”
Mckenna Wild has come
a long way from her days
on the farm and is now
one of the most impressive
young goalies in MWJHL.
Now, if she can just find
a way to steal a few wins
there is no telling how
successful she might be. ❍