By Sarah Croft
Computer technician Tom Zimmerman was just in the dorms to help set up wireless internet. He found a hockey player to join his team at the Carolina Ice Palace. He assured the mother that it was a no-hit league, but she was not concerned about that.
Zimmerman wondered what type of hockey player freshman Sondra Vetter must be if her mother was not worried about her getting hit. It turns out she is one of the top players not only now at the Ice Palace, but also from her home country of Saskatchewan.
“She comes out and starts ripping shots harder than guys on the team that have been playing 10-15 years. I had to tell her to bring it in a little or she’d get kicked out of the league,” Zimmerman said.
The league is the recreational league, or C league, at the Carolina Ice Palace where Vetter is one of the few girls. She plays against 250-300 pound men and is not afraid to take them to the boards or fight them for the puck. She is so competitive against the big guys that an opposing team consisting of policemen referred to her as a “maniac.” In January she was moved up to the B league for advanced players.
At 18 years of age, Vetter has been playing hockey for 14 years. “I came from a really small town and everyone had to play in order to have enough players to make a team,” Vetter said.
The schools did not have hockey teams, but Vetter played on a club team until coming to Charleston Southern. Her team was the provincial champions, which is equivalent to a team winning state. They then went on to earn the bronze medal at Western Canadians.
Her experience has certainly not gone unnoticed by her teammates at the Ice Palace. “She has great hockey skills, awesome speed, incredible hands, and great hockey senses- she knows when and where to be. She’s fantastic,” Zimmerman said.
Hockey is not all Vetter excels at. Vetter came to Charlevetter011.jpgston Southern on a softball scholarship and is excelling in her position as a pitcher. In the season’s first 36 games she posts a 2-0 record and has the second best earned run average on the team. In her first collegiate start against Towson, Vetter pitched a complete-game and earned her first collegiate victory.