ANTIGONISH, N.S. — Alex Normore’s competitive nature is helping her develop into one of the most promising female hockey players in the Canadian Inter-university Sport (CIS).
Normore is a rookie with the St. Francis Xavier X-Women’s hockey team — 2010-2011 Atlantic University Sport (AUS) champions and 2010-2011 CIS silver medalists.
The 18-year-old forward, whose parents Wayne and Marie (Colbourne) Normore are natives of Corner Brook, won her share of awards for her fine work on the ice at both levels of women’s university hockey.
She won AUS rookie of the year after collecting 16 goals and 25 assists in 24 games as her team posted a 24-0 record in the regular season before downing the University of Moncton 9-2 in the AUS final.
On the national level, the five-foot-seven rookie didn’t look out of place as the X-Women lost 5-2 to McGill University of Montreal in the CIS final — the defeat being the only one of the long season for Normore and her teammates.
For her efforts at the CIS event, Normore — who is pursuing a bachelor of science degree with a major in human kinetics — received accolades for Rookie of the Year and was named to the all-rookie team and All Canadian second all-star contingent.
X-Women head coach Dave Synishin believes Normore has a real zest for the game and that’s a special trait for any athlete or person to have.
“She brings a competitiveness and a mentality to the game that you see in older players,” Synishin said.
“For a skilled player that sees the ice very well, can control the game, and has great speed and vision, she doesn’t mind getting her nose dirty at any point and usually you don’t see that with that level of player.”
Despite her youthfulness, coach Synishin didn’t hesitate to use Normore in key situations as the X-Women strived towards being national champions.
“She’s somebody that we relied on as a first-year player ... we’d be down on a 5-on-3 and she would be the first player I would look at to kill the penalty which speaks volumes about her level of play as an offensive player,” he said.
Normore was born in Calgary, but the family pulled up stakes when she was only 18 months old and moved to Bedford, N.S. where she now calls home. She started playing minor hockey at six years of age, plying her trade alongside the boys in the Bedford Blues Association until she became fully immersed in the female side of the game at the AAA peewee level. Her last two years of minor hockey were spent with the Metro Boston Pizza AAA Midget Team.
A few minutes into a conversation with The Western Star, it was no trouble to see her competitive side.
She was pleased with the personal accolades and a perfect season at the AUS level, but didn’t like the idea of her season ending with a loss in the CIS final.
“It’s definitely disappointing, but they were a good team and so were we,” she said.
She was quick to praise her coaches and teammates for playing a big part in her success in her first year. She was proud of her awards and happy to see so many of her family and friends send her congratulatory messages since the news broke.
“I was pretty excited, but it was definitely a big surprise for sure,” she said of her awards haul.
Don’t expect her to lose her competitive edge anytime soon, either.
“Growing up I always wanted to win because I played a lot of sports growing up, too,” she said. “I guess I was always in a competitive environment for sure.”
Normore will be finished school in six weeks and then she plans on taking a breather before preparations for next season begin in earnest.
The future appears bright and she isn’t ruling out anything in her hockey future.
She has seen teammates of hers named to the Canadian university women’s team in the past so that’s something that may be on the radar.
Also, being a member of Team Canada’s women’s hockey team is another possibility for somebody with a thirst for being the best she can be.
“Yeah, it definitely crossed my mind. Definitely going to be a tough one, but if I got the chance it would be awesome for sure,” she said.
