On any given hockey night in Prince Rupert, Terena Stegavig won’t sit still for most of the game. She runs back and forth between the box, sets up tables and the chuck-a-duck. She finds an anthem singer and writes the game day sheets for the announcers to read from and psych up the crowd.
“This year I took it upon myself to put more effort into the Rampage. I don’t want to see it fail,” Stegavig said. “Smithers failed last year — they collapsed their franchise there, so now we’re down a team. Rupert is heading that way fast, but we’ve got a great team behind us now.”
When it comes to hockey in Prince Rupert, there’s the Rampage and then there’s the team of volunteers behind them — the ones off the ice — who make the game possible.
“There’s about 12 people that without them, we’re running around like idiots. This is just the people volunteering, most don’t even have kids on the team,” Stegavig said.
Read the latest stories about the Prince Rupert Rampage here.
It all began when Stegavig’s daughter Tristen started playing hockey. At the time, there were no teams for girls in Rupert. So she played with the boys’ rep team in Rupert and the all-girls team in Kitimat. While the kids’ dad would take the boys to their games, Stegavig took Tristen. Together they travelled south to Prince George, Kamloops and Richmond for a chance to play against other girls in the league.
“I didn’t even know what an offside was, I was just clueless,” Stegavig said with a laugh. “I completely learned the game from the bottom. You really appreciate how much people do and volunteer and raise money to help these kids out.”
Along the way, Stegavig went from watching in the stands to lending a helping hand.
“It was amazing hockey, to see all these females out. You can’t help but get involved,” she said.
She’s now been on the board for 13 years, helping with the registrar and getting the hockey academy started in Rupert. Now, much of her position comes down to organizing travelling team members. Members of the now-defunct Smithers team travel for the games, and it’s up to Stegavig to find accommodation and travel points for them. She often scrounges up Air Miles from the volunteers, and uses many of her own Air Miles, to make sure the team gets to the rink. With her mother-in-law she often helps out with security, too.
Stegavig also schedules the ice times for the minor league in Rupert, a task that is half organization, half balancing act. She tries not to conflict with basketball and dance practices to make sure new players get good ice times. The minor details can make a difference when parents decide what activities their kids participate in.
“I like all parts of it. I like to keep it inclusive, and I’d like to see more and more kids play,” Stegavig said. “More and more females, for sure.”
When Stegavig was growing up, she was completely immersed in dance. Back then, she said, it wasn’t even a thought that she would play hockey. It just wasn’t something girls did. In hindsight, she wishes she had learned to play.
“My only regret is that I wish I played a team sport,” Stegavig said.
While she can’t even skate, Stegavig loves how far the sport has come for girls, and the doors it’s opened with potential scholarships.
She’s made many friends across the province through hockey, people she otherwise wouldn’t get to meet.
“It’s the friendships you build. Especially a small town like Rupert, I think it’s great for people. You join the team and get a whole bunch of friends. It’s so social and it’s [like] exercising. It’s good for your health. You can get out on those ugly, rainy days and have some fun.”
For all of her 46 years, Stegavig has only lived in Prince Rupert. When she’s not near a rink, Stegavig runs Rupert Disposal, while her husband Jonathan owns Progressive Steel. She’s never thought of leaving her hometown.
“Rupert, you go to the grocery store and it takes you an hour and a half, it’s ‘Hi, hi, hi.’ We’re just very friendly people around here,” she said. “Here, I could send a text to 10 people and then you’ve got a 20-person dinner party in about a half an hour. Other places are so much bigger, it’s really hard to get people together to be social.”
It’s that same close-knit vibe she hopes the hockey players will take away from the game. Between Reading With The Rampage, attending birthday parties and fundraising for the Salvation Army, Stegavig loves how involved the team gets.
“They’re all feeding off each other and really learning how to be part of a community, which is what you want.”
Stegavig would love to see the rink full of fans, a goal she and the rest of the volunteers spend countless hours dreaming up ways to make happen.
After all, it’s not a one-woman show. As Stegavig will tell you, it’s a team effort.
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keili.bartlett@thenorthernview.com
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