Sophomore Sarah Korte has had a second home in the ice rink ever since she first laid eyes on it.

“I went to a roller hockey camp when I was in fifth grade and I started ice skating when I was in the second grade and I always found a love for being out on the ice and skating, and, as hockey as this sounds, I was always good at it,” Sarah said. “But after going to that roller hockey camp I realized that this is something that I’d really like doing and that I’d really enjoy.” 

Korte may be a girl, but that never stopped her from proving the doubters wrong and playing. Playing for not one, but two different teams. Although she joined later in life she learned the game fast.

“She progressed very quickly,” said Paul Korte, Sarah’s father. “The coaches were amazed with how quickly she progressed.”

For Sarah, who plays left and right wing, skating wasn’t the hard part. Stick and puck handling is the part that took her the most time to learn, but once she learned it, she took off. Most people are taught through just their coaches, but Sarah was taught by more than just coaches.

“She had one-on-one training,” said Marsha Williams, grandmother of Sarah Korte. “I think she started pretty much at the level that the others were playing at.” 

Today, Sarah is currently playing for both an all boys team, the Francis Howell North Knights, and, for an all girls team, the Lady Lions.   

With multiple practices a week and games or tournaments every weekend, she has a lot on her plate but she enjoys every second of it.

“Despite the fact that it’s very time consuming and you have to put a lot of work in to see results, just the fact that you can be out there playing is worth it,” Sarah said. “It’s all worth it. The time it takes, the hours of practices, the late night practices, it’s all worth it. Cause not only is it a game, it’s like a lifestyle, and the people you get to meet, and the places you get to go, and the team members you get to have, it’s not like any other sport.”