Shelby Sly and Queen's Women's Hockey discovered an interesting connection when they were looking into the history of women's hockey at the university ahead of the 2022-23 season.

During training camp, Head Coach Matt Holmberg put together and shared with the team a presentation highlighting the history and tradition of women's hockey at Queen's, dating back to the 1890s. Included in the presentation was a photo of the Arts '15 Ladies Hockey Champions from 1913-14 with one player labelled Miss W. Sly.

"I had no idea," Shelby said about any connection to Miss W. Sly. "It was kind of crazy because it was a picture from 1913-14, one of the first teams, and Matt pulled it up on the PowerPoint and he was talking about the team and said, 'I just noticed this, but her last name Sly.' I laughed out loud. I thought that's crazy, there's no way, but I was also thinking, could you imagine if I was related to her?"



With help from her Grandma, the family's ancestry and family tree expert, Shelby discovered she did have a family relation to Miss W. Sly.

"She gave me the family tree and the timeline. [Miss W. Sly] is a distant relative and I think that just makes this season and the whole talk about history so much more special to me. When we're talking about belonging, it's like maybe I do really belong here."

A big part of the presentation on women's hockey history at Queen's was the concept of Whakapapa, a Maori idea which embodies the universal human need to belong. The team explored Queen's 130+ history of women's hockey, digging into university archives and Brian McFarlane's book on the history of Canadian Women's Hockey Proud Past, Bright Future.

Sly, who now has the photo of the Arts '15 Ladies Hockey Champions with her relative Miss W. Sly hanging on her wall at home, just above this year's Queen's Women's Hockey team photo, said learning the history of Queen's Women's Hockey was a terrific team building exercise.

"Starting the presentation, Matt presented a quote that said, 'Each of us is part of an unbroken and unbreakable chain of people who share a sacred identity and culture.' And that was the starting point for our sense of belonging, and I think we're trying to create that this entire season, how we belong."

The Gaels learned a variety of interesting facts and stories about women's hockey at Queen's throughout the years.

Some of the early Women's Teams at Queen's were known as The Morning Glories (1896) and the Love-Me-Littles (early 20^th century), who earn that name for their on-ice antics. The Love-Me-Littles had hundreds of fans come to see them play and once challenged members of the Men's Varsity team to a scrimmage [McFarlane].

The first goalie to ever wear a face mask was Queen's goalie Elizabeth Graham in 1927, who wore what was described at the time by the Montreal Star as a fencing mask [McFarlane].

And one that really stood out to Sly, the story of the Queen's Red Barons, a team in the early 1970s that featured a number of prominent Queen's alumnae, including Sue Scherer, a World Championship gold medalist with Canada in the 1990s.

"Talking about the Red Barons, which is a huge part of our history as well, I absolutely loved it. I think I got a little emotional just because you hear stories, and speaking with people [who were there], it just makes you feel so proud to be a part of something so much bigger than ourselves. And I think we've definitely used that as motivation."
 
Sly joined the Gaels Women's Hockey program in 2018-19 after playing 13 seasons in town with the Kingston Ice Wolves. She played her last three seasons before Queen's with the Jr. Ice Wolves, serving as assistant captain her last year. Since then Sly, who has always enjoyed giving back to the Ice Wolves organization through, has gone on to play 69 games with the Gaels through four seasons, serving as assistant captain in the last two.

Sly said she knew a little about Queen's hockey history before joining the program, but this year's exercise taught her so much more about the players that wore the Q before her.

"I knew that Queen's has a rich history in general, especially Queen's Hockey. Now just knowing that you are a part of this amazing, cultural history. I don't think I looked too much into it [before this year] and I'm really glad we did because we didn't know how in depth and how integral it is to who we are today. I think that one of the selling points of Queen's Hockey, just that we were here from the beginning."

Following their illustrious beginnings and history during the early portion of the 20^th century, Queen's Women's Hockey was one of the original teams in the Ontario Women's Interuniversity Athletic Association (OWIAA), dating back to the 1971-72 season.

The Gaels have since gone on to win six provincial championships (four in the OWIAA and two in the OUA), with their most recent coming in 2012-13. Queen's also has seven conference silver medals, four bronze medals, and four trips to the U SPORTS National Championship, with a top placing of third in 2010-11.

This year's Gaels team is third in the OUA East Division standings with a 3-7-6-4 record. Sly said the current team is grateful to be part of such a rich history of Queen's Women's Hockey.
 

"I'm forever grateful to not only be a part of the history but to know that my time here at Queen's, I can try and make my mark and be a part of that history as well. I want teams down the road to look back and know that I was a part of making a good mark on the culture and history as well.

"It is really special to know that, not only do we have an amazing program here, but it was developed from the beginning. That's really something to be grateful for, just to be able to wear the Q. Our team, that really hit home - our belonging, our story."
Sly, a senior, is in her final year with the Gaels this season. While this was the first time the team took such a deep dive into the history and tradition of women's hockey at Queen's, Sly said she hopes it's a process that will continue in future years.

"Seeing the impact that one conversation had at the beginning of our season and talking about our belonging and our story, it really created what a championship culture this season."

And if future Queen's Women's Hockey teams are looking back at the history of the team years down the road, Sly said she hopes the 2022-23 Gaels team has made their mark on the program as well.

"If I had to sum it up in a few words, it would be making an impact. I think you can be as impactful off the ice as you can be on it, especially culture wise. To develop a true championship culture, you want to have those core values. Our entire team wants to have a few core values like hustle, heart, unity, passion, and excellence. Those values are what I think make a history and what adds to a growing legacy.

"When our team wants to look back on the season, we want to know that every time we stepped on the ice, every time we were together, and every time we wore the Q, that we embodied those values. Knowing we did our best to prove to everyone that we can be a part of this rich history, and thinking that we made everyone before us proud."