It has been an interesting year for gender roles at Cary-Grove. This year has seen the creation of a locker room policy for transgender students, the first male member of the flags team, and also the first female member of the hockey team.

Sophomore Jessica Sloat is the first female member of the Cary-Grove hockey team, but she is not new to the sport itself. During her freshman year Sloat played on a girl’s hockey team with other girls from the Fox Valley Conference.

“Honestly, I don’t really feel it until we’re off the ice and we’re all standing in a group and I’m kind of standing there off to the side like, hey,” Sloat said of her role as the only girl on the team.

Overall, being the minority doesn’t bother her very much because it doesn’t get in way of the reason she plays the game.

“I enjoy the rush, the feel of freedom,” Sloat said.

Overall, the team has had a winning season, going 18-14-7. During the MLK holiday weekend, the team won the Rapids Avalanche Tournament after an intense championship game against Loyola Academy.

“I think we’ve got some work to do as a team, but I think we can come together and make something out of it,” team captain Dominic Miller said.

At the least, the team has come together enough to make their historic new member welcome.

“They’re all really positive about it,” Sloat said of the rest of the team. “At least, they haven’t said anything negative to my face. On the ice, there’s total equality.”