Being a multiple sport athlete is not an easy feat for a high school student to accomplish in the 21st Century. There are offseason demands for their time in each of their sports.
Ally Smith doesn't seem to struggle juggling academics (3.6 grade-point average) and three sports. She stands out in soccer, hockey and track and field and works on each in the offseason.
"In the summer, I'm also playing soccer, but at least twice a week I try to do the other sports," she said
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Ally Smith
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Sport: Girls hockey
Position: Center
Year: Junior
Age: 17
Height: 5-7
Other sports: Soccer, track & field
Grade-point average: 3.6
Favorite class: AP Language with Mr. Devine
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Favorite food: Ice cream
Favorite movie: "Miracle"
Favorite TV show: "Friday Night Lights"
Hobbies: Fishing, hunting
Future plans: Play soccer in college
Parents: Kris and Tom Smith
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To improve her hockey skills, last summer she went to a hockey camp at the University of Minnesota and trained at Takedown Gym and with Minnesota Hockey Camps. She skated about three times a week and worked on perfecting her snap shot.
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Not surprisingly, Smith leads the Brainerd Warriors in scoring through five games this season with five goals and an assist for six points. She scored a hat trick against Princeton/Big Lake/Becker and two goals against River Lakes.
"(Scoring) came naturally to me, but my teammates really help me," Smith said. "They set me up."
Wings on her line include Katie Orth, Brooke Mimmack and Abby Pohlkamp.
"Katie is just a scrapper," Smith said. "She goes and digs the puck out. She's a hard-worker. Brooke can get me the puck. She sees the ice pretty well. Abby also is one of those players who's a hard-worker, finds open space and gets you the puck."
What skill does Smith provide the line?
"I think I can bring more of the finishing part to it," she said. "I try to get (linemates) involved in the play as much as I can."
Warriors coach Jim Ernster agrees that Smith is a natural sniper, but that's not her only attribute.
"What else helps her is she's so darn modest," he said. "She's not going out there - yeah she wants to score - but that's not the thing that defines her. She wants to go out there and be effective. Because she works so hard she puts herself and her linemates in position to have really good chances and they're fortunate enough to capitalize on them.
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"She doesn't start a shift saying 'I need to score.' She just says I'm going to work hard and see what happens. I think that helps her be effective the whole game because she doesn't allow herself to get too high emotionally or too low emotionally. She just goes out and competes every shift.
"She's a good teammate. The girls enjoy being around her. She has a nice personality. When that happens, and you're on her line, kids just work hard because they enjoy playing with her."
Ernster said one of the overlooked aspects of Smith's game is her play without the puck.
"One of those things that make her so dangerous all the time is she's so tenacious when she's backchecking or forechecking," Ernster said. "I don't know how many times we've seen her come up from behind a player and steal the puck from them. Then she turns around and creates an instant offensive chance.
"One thing you find with kids who are well-rounded players is they create more of those opportunities by being extra tenacious on the backcheck and forecheck. Other kids don't expect that. It's funny to see the look of dismay - How did she get the puck from an opposing player - and boom. She stops on a dime, lifts up their stick, turns and goes the other way in an instant."
As a sophomore, her first on the varsity, Smith led Brainerd in scoring with 23 goals and seven assists.
"I think the game has slowed down a little bit," she said. "I'm just more experienced, so I'm not super nervous before games or not wanting to mess up because I know if I mess up it's OK."
Last season the Warriors finished 9-16-0 and lost in the opening round of the Section 8-2A playoffs. They are 3-2-0 heading into Thursday's game against Moorhead at Essentia Health Sports Center.
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"I think we're going to be a stronger team this year," Smith said. "We do have some young players - one eighth-grader and two ninth-graders - but they're going to contribute to the team a lot. They're part of what we missed last year."
Smith's sister, Gabbie, is the eighth-grader. Gabbie is the team's second-leading scorer with a goal and four assists.
"It's been so fun," Ally said of having her sister on the team. "Not many people get to play with their siblings. I'm fortunate. I'm really lucky to play with her."
Other notable efforts:
• Katie Streiff, swimming, won the Section 8-2A 100 butterfly title.
• Hannah McKeag, won the section 100 backstroke championship.
• The 400 free relay of Alyssa Williams, Madelynn Gibbons, Streiff and McKeag were section runners-up and qualified for state.
MIKE BIALKA may be reached at mike.bialka@brainerddispatch.com or 218-855-5861. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/bertsballpark .
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