The WHS girls hockey team is 6-13 heading into the NJSIAA tournament, as of Hi’s Eye’s print deadline. In only its fourth season, the team has shown improvement from its start. One of the players who pushed for the creation of a girls hockey team is Senior Captain Maddie Katz, who leads the team with 38 goals and 100 career points. She sat down to talk about the girls hockey program, her hockey career and excitement surrounding the young team.

Q: At what age did you start playing hockey, and what inspired you to start playing?

A: I started playing hockey when I was nine. I had done figure skating before and my friend and Co-Captain Maddie McDevitt invited me to a “Learn to Skate” with her. After that, I just stuck with skating and hockey.

Q: What do you think having a girls hockey team does for the Westfield community?

A: Girls hockey is a growing sport, and it’s important that young girls know that this is an opportunity for them. When I started playing, there wasn’t a girls team. Once I started the girls hockey team at Westfield, I knew that I would have the opportunity to play and so would other girls.

Q: What were some of the steps taken to start the team initially?

A: We started getting things together in middle school, and we ran clinics to try and gain more interest in the sport and get more people wanting to play. We also had to speak with the athletic director and the BOE. We just got sanctioned this year, so before that we were completely self-funded. There was a lot of fundraising involved; it was a lot of hard work.

Q: What does your team do to prepare for a big game?

A: My freshman and sophomore years, we would always play “Fergalicious.” I don’t know why that started, but we always play music, get each other hyped up and keep the spirits high even if our record isn’t that great.