The University of South Carolina’s Women’s Club Ice Hockey Team was established in the fall of 2023, and since then, they’ve made a significant impact both at the university and in the world of women’s sports. From starting with minimal resources and support to securing a second-place finish in the College Hockey South Women’s Division, USC’s Women’s Ice Hockey Team is proving they’re here to stay.
Student Assistant Olivia Tiseth sat down with four members of the team -- President Genevieve Crouch, Vice President and Alternate Captain Averie Bowen, Captain and Co-Founder Morgan Giard, and Alternate Captain Alyssa Nardslico, – to discuss their experiences and goals for the University of South Carolina’s Women’s Club Ice Hockey Team. You can find more events and information on the team by following their Instagram @carolinawhockey.
There has recently been a rise in recognizing women’s achievements in sports and in the media-- has this impacted or inspired your team?
"It’s definitely made an impact, even just teams in our league, have definitely showed a lot more interest and passion. We’ve had like four new teams, including us, that have started between last year and this year. So that’s been great, just being able to grow our league and have more opponents. It’s still been a struggle, obviously, for us here at this school trying to grow, at least our program, but it’s definitely grown. Especially with all the other teams, we’re all brand new so we all kind of help each other out in ways that we can, like communicating with other teams. Auburn’s [team] reached out to us wishing us good luck at our other games-- just girls helping girls out."
What does it mean to you all to be a woman in sports, and if you could give any advice to young girls starting off in this field, what would it be?
"Just do it. Honestly just take a chance and just do it. I’ve played so many sports, especially sports that men dominated, and [we] are particularly in that kind of atmosphere which can be intimidating. But just empower yourself and “block out the haters”. There’s a lot of stereotypes about athletic girls… but it’s so rewarding, and so empowering to be able to say ‘I’m strong, I can play a sport just as good as the boys’.
We were at a restaurant in Alabama recently and people asked, “oh are you here for
the volleyball tournament?” When we responded: “no we play hockey” they assumed we
meant field hockey. When we said “no, ice hockey” they all said, “wow that’s incredible,
I can’t believe that”. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal anymore, but for a lot
of people that aren’t used to it, it is really cool to say that I’m a girl and I can
still play hockey and skate. Being able to say we have a women’s team is really cool
because people are starting to realize who we are, and we’re not always grouped with
the men’s team now."
What goals do you have for this team and what do you hope to see for this team 10 years into the future?
"Recruitment is really important. We are hosting a recruitment event where we’re going to do a campus tour, we’re going to have girls come out and skate, and we’ll have a player panel of current players so that they can hear about our experiences. Ten years from now… honestly, we want a national championship… badly! We have the potential and we know we have the potential-- we just need to keep growing.
On a smaller scale, we’re working to have a team with a really strong foundation, and if we were still here in ten years that would be rewarding enough... We’re working to have a normal schedule, an actual ice slot, and maybe a locker room. Also, we’re able to be an outlet for these girls who might have had bad experiences with hockey in the past but now are able to find their love for the sport and be happy on the ice. We want to make it fun for everyone. We’re a club sport, but we are also really competitive and we want to be able to showcase that. "