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Virden’s Eilers pursues excellence in Alberta

Virden’s Tori Eilers loves the commitment her Olds College women’s hockey team has to excellence. She is in her first season playing for the Alberta college.
Eilers
Tori Eilers

Virden’s Tori Eilers loves the commitment her Olds College women’s hockey team has to excellence.

She is in her first season playing for the Alberta college. With packed school schedules, the best time for Eilers, a goaltender, and her Broncos teammates to practice is 6 a.m.

“Our coaching staff and every player on the team show up day after day before the sun has even cracked the sky, and hit the ice with a purpose - to win the upcoming weekend,” she said. “Along with daily morning practices, we have team workouts every Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, where every single individual on the team is pushing themselves on the racks, guided by our committed Coach L (Keith Lundgren).

“Our head coach Chris Leeming brings his A-game to the table with every practice, pushing us to the best of our abilities and creating practice plans that adhere to our upcoming opponents. We have an amazing strength and conditioning coach, Coach L, he has brought all of us into the best shape we could be. Personally, he’s helped me lift and reach new strengths I didn’t know were possible!”

This season Eilers has a 2.92 goal against average and .903 save percentage. Leeming said that she “brings a positive attitude everyday to the rink and is learning how to play consistently while adjusting to the speed and competitiveness of the college game.”

The game in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) is different from what Eilers experienced with the Yellowhead Chiefs in midget AAA.

“College hockey has been a huge step up from midget AAA as it requires a lot more commitment at home and outside of the rink,” said Eilers, whose field of study is Agricultural Management majoring in production. “The game is much faster, stronger, and competitive. To keep up, you have to be constantly getting stronger, bettering your endurance, and altering your personal game to be that one step up on your opponent.”

Eilers credits her family for supporting her and helping her get to the ACAC level. She said her mom, Courtney Eilers, and her nan have been some of her biggest supporters over the years. Eilers said her mom always had hot meals in a crockpot ready for her on late nights after practices.

“She’s made me her own little celebrity and loves to promote whichever team I’m on all over, proudly wearing my team's colours around town cheering from (a distance) while I’m out here in Alberta,” Eilers said. “My mom has been a key stepping stone to getting me where I am.”

Her stepmom, Laura Eilers, who came into her life when she was 11, is also a big fan “whether she’s the loudest in the stands, or bragging about her stepdaughter’s game the night before at the hospital,” Eilers said.

“She used to always send me on the road bunch with a huge bag of food and snacks to keep me fed on the bus all throughout midget. Now whenever she visits, she stocks my fridge, makes a bunch of pre-made meals, and teaches me new meal ideas. Moral of the story is she has always kept my belly full, and my body full of fuel to play at the best of my ability.”

Her father, Brian Eilers, is her ultimate supporter, she said. He coached teams she played on while growing up.

“He is so full of knowledge about the game and has taught me everything he knows,” she said. “I am beyond lucky to have grown up and be raised by him. My dream became his and he chased me all over Western Canada driving me to practices and games.

“My rookie year of midget AAA I played for the Norman Wild, located out of Thompson, Manitoba. He drove up to Thompson (a nine-and-a-half-hour drive) nine times and to The Pas four times in one winter. Now that I am playing out here in Alberta, my dad streams all of my games at home, often inviting company over to watch his little girl live her dreams. We are 1,400 km apart and my dad still has never missed a game.”

 

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