Game On Magazine - April 2017 GameOn-Apr2017-P001-144-ONLINE | Page 131

visit there. She’s excited about it. I hope she enjoys it.
Corinne and Megan Schroeder are special. Sarah Zacharias, the
assistant coach of the Blazers has known it for quite some time. For
Zacharias, the two sisters are such a major part of the Blazers prep
hockey team that it’s going to be hard to play without one of them
next season.
“We call them Big Schroeds and Little Schroeds,” Zacharias said.
“Little Schroeds is evolving into a goalie who is making quite a name
for herself now. They are both incredible athletes, but more than
I
f he had to do it all over again – and if he had any input into the
decision – Rob Schroeder admits he probably wouldn’t encour-
age his two daughters to become goalies.
Like any dad, he loves his girls, and he just isn’t sure the pressure
that naturally accompanies a goaltender is a good thing.
“Honestly, I don’t know if I would encourage them to be goalten-
ders again,” he said, as he watched daughters Corinne and Megan
practice with the Balmoral Hall Blazers at MTS iceplex. “If you’re a
defenseman, you’re one of a group of six or eight. If you’re a for-
ward, you’re one of 12 or 13. But as a goalie, it’s all on you. You have
to be No. 1 or you don’t play. That’s hard, too.
“I think for goalies, it’s really important to be level headed and
they have to have a short memory. They have to immediately forget
the goal went in. And you’re counted on so much, you can’t let that
get to you.
“In all, it’s been good for them. Corinne does well in school and
Megan, is not very far behind. Corinne is going to Boston University,
that’s a long way from home. We visited last March and enjoyed the
I’m really excited, it’s a long
way from Elm Creek to Boston. It’ll be
a change, but it’ll be pretty exciting,
I think. I’ve visited and I really like it.
I’ve talked to the coaches and I expect
to go in there and work really hard to
get better and to work my way up
that they are also incredible young women who are very respectful
and responsible and very mature for the age.
“They drive that long route from Elm Creek into the city every day.
We have Tuesday morning workouts at 7 a.m. and they are always
there bright and early. And they stay for practice until 7 o’clock at
night. That’s a big commitment for that family.
“They have three siblings, as well. There are five of them and yet
their parents drive them in and out of Winnipeg every day. That’s
at least 45 minutes in good weather and sometimes an hour to an
hour and a half in bad weather. But that’s just an everyday thing for
them. On top of that, they are also farm girls so they have respon-
CORINNE SCHROEDER
2017 PLAYOFF EDITION
GAME ON 131