Game On Magazine - April 2017 Game on Preview Edition | Page 126

PROFILE
whitney
scott
B y S c o t t Tay l o r
Photos by Lynda Wray and James Carey Lauder
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Whitney Scott was a pretty good minor
hockey player in Thunder Bay. However,
when she arrived in Winnipeg to study at
the University of Manitoba, she wasn’t
sure about her next step on the ice.
In her freshman year at the U of M,
she played intramural hockey, but it left
her wanting more – more games and
more competition. So she went on-line
and found the Manitoba Junior Women’s
Hockey League.
However, even after a phone call with
MWJHL President Kirk Kuppers she
admitted she was “intimidated” just by
thought of playing junior hockey.
“Originally, after high school, I was
going to go to university in Ottawa,”
Scott explained. “But I decided to come.
It’s just an eight-hour drive to Thunder
Bay to go home. Ottawa was two flights.
“So when I came to the U of M, I came
all by myself and I didn’t know anybody,
so I played intramurals and while it was
fun, it wasn’t very competitive. Then
two months after I arrived, I was looking
on line and I found the Manitoba Junior
Women’s Hockey League. I called (league
president) Kirk Kuppers a couple of
times and I thought about playing in the
league, but I was intimidated. Honestly.
It said ‘junior hockey’ and I thought that
would be such a higher level than I’d
ever played before.
“But at the start of my second year
at the U of M, I went to the MWJHL’s
tryout camp and things went really well
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