Kennedy Moore didn’t need much selling on joining the SAIT Trojans hockey team, but she got the sales pitch anyway.
Trojans coach Kelsey Leifson brought the Chestermere forward to campus and showed her around, letting her see firsthand the benefits of going to college at SAIT and playing in the ACAC.
It didn’t hurt that after a year playing in Edmonton for the Northern Alberta Xtreme, heading to this area to continue her hockey career was something she was dreaming of anyway.
Leifson offered Moore a spot with the Trojans for the 2018-19 — and she hopes for a few years beyond that — and she jumped at the chance.
“As soon as I met coach Kelsey I knew that’s where I wanted to go,” said the teenager, who will be turning 18 a month before school starts.
“Everything about it made me want to be there. She made the team sound great and the campus really helped decide I wanted to go there too.”
As with the case with most elite hockey players, Moore has moved around to play at the top levels. That led her to Edmonton for a year, but she’s been travelling around the past few seasons following the hockey dream.
“I’ve been around a lot,” Moore said. “For my first year of midget, I played with the Rocky Mountain Raiders in Okotoks. We went to the Esso Cup and came third. It was an amazing experience to be part of that.
“I played for the Calgary Fire last year. It was still close to home and there were a lot of great girls there.
“This past year in Edmonton was amazing. It felt like you were part of more than a team. It was like a family. We were together all day, every day. There a lot of friendships that I will keep for a very, very long time and that’s what it’s all about.”
Moore is looking at a big summer of transition. She has wrapped up her time in Edmonton where she was staying with a teammate’s family as billets and has finalized her school year.
There will be some intense training over the summer as she works towards getting ready for the transition to college, where she will be doing academic upgrading for the first year.
The long-term plan is to do something in athletic therapy, but she’s not sure what career path she wants to take yet, so she’s buying some time to decide.
Plus there’s the matter of joining a new team, with the majority of her new teammates being completely new to her. It’s a scenario she’s dealt with the past few seasons so it’s not that big of a deal.
“It should be easy to make friends quick,” Moore said. “They are kind of rebuilding now so I’m excited to get in there and help with that. I hope to make the team better any way I can.”
Although she considers her billets in Edmonton to be a second family, Moore still couldn’t be more excited to be moving home. Her plan is to stay in Chestermere and commute in to SAIT, but the Trojans have the perfect facility for her situation.
The arena complete with team locker-room is right on campus, so she can spend her entire day on campus between classes and practices.
And of course, her family is now close enough to be at all the games at SAIT, which is huge bonus.
“I’m very happy about that,” Moore said. “It’s nice being close to home again.
“It’s nice to stay home and enjoy those home-cooked meals again. My mom was really excited when I signed because it meant I was coming home again.
“It’s a good feeling knowing I get to stay here and play with one of the home teams.”
