Atlantic all-star Normore shows staying home can work
AT ALMOST every level of sport, it is very difficult to be chosen the league’s most valuable player in your second season.
But Bedford’s Alex Normore has done just that.
She had a fantastic sophomore ice hockey season with the St. Francis Xavier X-Women and was recently awarded Atlantic University Sport’s top individual honour. She was also named to the first all-star team.
This second-year forward recorded an amazing 55-point season, tops in the entire country. She had 24 goals and 31 assists in 24 games.
Last year, she was named the top rookie in the Atlantic conference and the country.
“Alex has been an integral part of our program since Day 1," said St. F.X.
head coach David Synishin.
“She is the complete package. Last year, she was an academic all-Canadian. Alex’s biggest assets are her intelligence and competitiveness both on and off the ice.
“Rarely in your life do you encounter someone who is as multi-talented as she is."
Normore moved into second place in the AUS record book for the most assists in a single season with 31, second to former X-woman Candace Ernst who had 38 in 2005-06. She led the CIS in assists and was tied for second in the country in total goals scored.
An AUS first team all-star for the second consecutive year, Normore was a 2010-11 second team All-Canadian who played a significant role in the X-Women’s 2011 AUS championship victory and their silver medal at the nationals. Normore helped lead the X-Women to a first-place finish atop the conference with a 20-4-0 record. In the playoffs, they encountered an exceptional goaltender and lost 2-1 to University of Prince Edward Island in the conference semifinal.
“Obviously we’re very proud of Alex and what she has accomplished thus far," said her mom, Marie Normore.
She and husband Wayne live in Bedford and are originally from Corner Brook, N.L.
“She has done very well at X and X has been very good to her," she said.
Normore’s path was slightly different than that of many aspiring elite hockey players — especially females. Many young teenage girls head to top-notch prep schools south of the border. Alex chose to stay here and play in the local AAA female midget league, which her parents played a role in creating and are actively involved with to this day.
“Alex received many suggestions and offers about what to do when she was younger," recalled her mom. “And if she had stated that she wanted to go away, we would have supported her.
However, she wanted to stay and play and show other girls that they could do the same thing.
“As her parents, we were glad she chose to stay because we like experiencing things as a family. It’s very important to us. Having her live elsewhere, when she was 13 or 14 (we) felt like she was too young for that."
Normore went to Charles P. Allen High School in Bedford and still stays in touch with many of her friends from that school. She was recruited by several universities but chose X because of its size, the success of the female hockey program, the coaching staff and the reputation of the science program.
In closing, Normore’s mother noted two things: “Alex knows that education is the top reason she is at school. Hockey is great, but you need a great education to move through life. She also firmly knows that hockey is a team game. Without her teammates, she would not be experiencing the success she has achieved."
Well said, Mom.
Bedford resident Ed McHugh teaches business at post-secondar y institutions.
(communityherald.ca)