Miacomets skate for the fun of it
BY STEVE SHEPPARD INDEPENDENT SPORTS EDITOR
School nurse Meg Roberts didn't get the chance to skate much growing up on Nantucket, so when Nantucket Ice opened several years ago she decided to give it another shot.

Above: Several of the Miacomets take time out. Front row, left to right: Brooke Bulmer, Ginny Lewis, Jenn Decker, Beth Davidson, Bonnie Brooks. Back row: coach Jonathan Stone, Muffin Kurash, Wendy Fereshetian, Tracy King, Rachael Perkins, Meg Roberts, coach Rob Welch.

"I was trying to learn how to ice skate and was falling down all the time," she recalls. Her friends suggested hockey, of all things, but Roberts soon discovered one of the sport's hidden benefits - because of the pads hockey players wear, falling down wasn't nearly as bad. "I had all the pads on, and it didn't hurt."

Roberts stuck with it, her skating steadily improved, and she has been playing hockey ever since.

Her team? The Miacomets, Nantucket's women's ice hockey team.

They meet regularly at the Christopher Nugent Bovers Community Rink every Tuesday night and, thanks to ice time donated by Chris Lewis - whose wife Ginny skates for the team - hold scrimmages two Sundays a month.

They represent a cross-section of island life. Some have prior hockey experience, some rely on past field hockey skills, but all of them, no matter what their abilities, are there to have fun. "We have a mix of people, from those who have never played a sport before, to those who have been playing sports all their lives," notes high school health and physical education teacher Beth Davidson, who played field hockey in college and is a former coach of Nantucket's varsity field hockey team.

Brooke Bulmer, who succeeded Davidson as field hockey coach, is another long-time skater who has been on the squad the last four years and is the current team president. Bulmer has also seen how ice hockey opportunities for women have improved over the years.

"I grew up on figure skates, because my dad wouldn't let me play hockey," she says. "It is ironic, though, because he was the coach at my high school for 16 years. I had to settle for being the penalty box keeper and statistician for my high school team. Now my old high school has a women's team, so I was just born too early."

One who did play girls' hockey growing up is one of the team's original members, Muffin Kurash, who plays defense on the team and says she has been playing hockey "half my life." When the team started up, she says, "there were maybe eight of us (including Bambi Mleczko, Jenn Decker, Bonnie Brooks, Shelley Jo Rowell, JoAnne Richard and Allison Stark). Within a few months, we'd more than doubled those numbers."

They found their equipment where they could at first, but now they have home and away uniforms. On top of that, they have a full board of directors, pay regular dues and schedule home and away contests with other women's teams. "We're very organized," Kurash said.

They are quick to credit their coaches, Jonathan Stone, Rob Welch and Jon Anastos. "We couldn't do a lot of what we do without them," Kurash said.

They skate to keep in shape, to hone their skating skills and to socialize. "Once I started," Bulmer said, "I never stopped. It is an addicting game. The only time I took a break was when I broke my leg and had surgery (three years ago). I have made so many great hockey friends."

Roberts, too, enjoys the camaraderie and the encouragement her teammates give her. She spoke of a recent off-island tournament in which the Miacomets took part. "The tournaments are a blast because you get to play hockey, you get to go shopping and you get to go out to dinner," she said.

"We really do have a blast," echoed Kurash. "We have a great time."

They skate with a core group of about 15 players, but are always looking for new players to join in. Women of all abilities are welcome. "The more the merrier," Davidson said, while Roberts notes, "If you don't have enough players, it's not as much fun."

Prospective players don't necessarily need to be hockey fans, either. "I've never even seen a (professional) hockey game," Roberts laughed.

For those who thought team sports were tucked away in the past, being on the Miacomets has other advantages. "I never thought I'd be playing a team sport again," Davidson said. "It's fun to be back in the team atmosphere."

The Miacomets are planning a fundraiser, to help offset the cost of ice time, at the Faregrounds Restaurant on March 24.

Interested players are invited to call Kurash at 508-221-0137, or Bulmer at

508-932-2584. I