USA Hockey Adult Hockey

When Amanda Hinson began playing adult league hockey nine years ago, her younger sister, Sidney, wasn’t quite a teenager yet. The two siblings didn’t get along too well.

Things changed when they started lacing up their skates together three years ago. Amanda’s team, Hinson’s Heroes, added 18-year-old Sidney to the roster and the sisters became a force to be reckoned with in the Wilmington Adult Hockey League at The Ice House in Wilmington, North Carolina.

“It’s awesome, we love playing together,” said Sidney, 21. “It actually brought us a lot closer since I turned 18, I’d say. Because when we were younger we used to fight all the time and now we’re best friends — we hang out all the time. Hockey’s like, brought us together.”

Amanda, who turned 29 on Oct. 14, enjoys getting to experience an on-ice bond with her sister.

“It took some getting used to actually, because we both were a little rowdy, so sometimes we stick up for each other a little too much,” Amanda said. “We’re a little protective of each other, so we’ll go after the biggest dudes on the team if one of them hits one of us.”

When Sidney joined the team three years ago, the girls decided to change the name to the Hinson’s Hookers.

The team plays in a co-ed league in the C Division. Hinson’s Hookers is comprised of five women and eight men. It’s an interesting dynamic as Sidney is the younger player, and the age range goes all the way up to a 60-year-old logging farmer who just picked up hockey two years ago.

“Most of our girls are the top scorers in points on our team, and penalty minutes,” Sidney joked. “We get rowdy just as much as the guys do, but it’s a good dynamic. One thing I hated when I played travel [hockey], some of the guys, it was like insulting because they wouldn’t try whenever I was playing against them. So it’s really awesome with our league because I feel like everyone tries an equal amount, they don’t insult you just because you’re a girl. They know that we’ll compete with them just as well as they can.”

The Hinson sisters, who are co-captains of the team and both teachers by day, enjoy playing in a coed league.

“I like coed a lot better,” Amanda said. “It’s more challenging because they’re bigger than we are and most of the time stronger. I’ve found with men they’re either one extreme or the other — either they’re taking it easy on you or they’ll go really hard on you because they don’t want to be embarrassed.”

Amanda started her own team five years ago and has had success with her teammates on the ice. Hinson’s Hookers won last season’s championship and are eyeing a repeat. Eight games into the fall season, Hinson’s Hookers were undefeated and looking untouchable.

“We have really good chemistry and play well as a team,” Amanda said. “We’re undefeated not because we have the most skilled players, but just because we pass and play well together.”

The Hinson women have found a nice mix of players who generally stay on the team for a number of years.

“For about the last two or three years we’ve had just about the same roster,” Amanda said. “Maybe a couple newbies, but the last two or three years I would definitely say it’s been really consistent with the same group.”

What makes playing with her teammates so special?

“It’s just a really good group of people,” Amanda said. “Everyone’s just really down to earth. Everyone has to get up and go to work in the morning and we all know that, so we’re just there to have a good time and play hockey.”

Sidney calls her teammates family. They all love to laugh with one another and enjoy their time on the ice.

“We’re competitive, but we don’t take it too seriously,” Sidney said. “There’s some teams that they get mad at each other, and we never get mad at each other. We joke around, we laugh when someone falls and we make a joke out of it. Half the time on the bench we’re not even talking hockey, we’re talking about what we’re going to do after the game — if we’re going to go have a beer or we’re going to go eat somewhere.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc