NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Teresa Spychalski, Kirsten Parks, and Lori Macdonald have been playing hockey together for more than 25 years.
The three met through the Centennial Ice Rink in Nashville in 2000 and have spent more than two decades not just playing the game, but fighting to make sure women had a place to play it.
When you think of hockey in Nashville, the Nashville Predators likely come to mind first. But for 26 years, a group of women has been working to grow the sport at the grassroots level.
Their paths to the ice could not be more different.
Macdonald grew up in Canada, where winters left little else to do.
"So there wasn't anything to do really in the winters there except for skate," Macdonald said.
Spychalski also grew up playing on frozen ponds.
"We just did ponds and stuff," she said.
Parks came to the game by a different route entirely — through the U.S. Army, after someone spotted her playing inline hockey on an abandoned tennis court.
"'Will you play for us on the ice tonight?' and I'm like - I've never skated a day in my life," Parks recalled someone asking when they noticed she was playing hockey.
"And so I fell, to show him that no, I can't skate," she added. "He goes, 'We'll buy you skates!' I'm like – I'm going to get a free pair of skates out of it. Okay!"
All three eventually found their way to Nashville. When Spychalski and Macdonald crossed paths at the rink, a shared love of the Toronto Maple Leafs sealed the friendship.
"I met T-Spy, I had on a Maple Leafs jersey, I think? And she skated over and said, 'Where are you from?' And I said, 'I'm Canadian. I'm a die hard Leafs fan,' and she said, 'Me too,'" Macdonald said.
But finding each other was the easy part.
"Getting ice time for women's hockey was extraordinarily difficult," Parks said.
"The guys owned hockey," she added.
Rather than walk away, the group pushed forward — recruiting players wherever they could find them.
"We would troll ice rinks and, you know we'd go to skate but then we'd see someone wearing skates, women, and we'd be like – lets see if she's – if she'd want to join and they'd be like, 'Really?'" Spychalski said.
"As a group of people, you all have a similar like," Macdonald said. "Some people are really good players, others are learning. And we all help each other."
After more than two decades together, the three have settled comfortably into their roles on the ice.
And none of them are planning to stop anytime soon.
"I mean, I always say I'll play til I drop," Macdonald said. "And I don't mean being dropped by someone."
"I'd rather be the oldest one on the ice than the youngest in the nursing home," Spychalski said.
"Hockey – is the greatest sport on ice. That's it!" Parks said.
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