USC Ice Girls

After suffering through a scortcher of a day, I found myself frozen to the bone as I sat in the Iceland Ice Rink in Van Nuys, California watching the open skate for the USC Ice Girls.

The Ice Girls were founded last season through a collaboration between the USC men's ice hockey team and group of girls from the USC Figure Skating Team.

Junior Niki Huenergardt, co-founder and squad coordinator, met with USC Figure Skating president Jessie Ranko Houston and USC Ice Hockey Assistant General Manager Johnny Nguyen, and it was decided with a group of girls on the figure skating team that they wanted to find a way to be a part of the spirit of USC through their skating skills. Thus, the USC Ice Girls were born.

This open skate was such a success that they decided to have a Varsity and Junior Varsity team – a huge milestone for the girls, as last year there were only five on the team. Niki was beyond thrilled with the turnout and explained that she hopes that even more girls will take an interest in the future, “We want to let girls know that they don’t have to be a skater. We want bubbly, fun, personality girls. We want to be an important asset to the USC community.”

This 2011-2012 season appears to be a promising one for the girls, as they will have more members to help promote their team throughout the USC community. They love reaching out and interacting with the fans. They are quite excited about becoming more and more apart of the spirit of the university.

There was lots of fun to be had at their open skate. I could feel the excitement from the girls who were having a blast skating around and forming new friendships with their future teammates. Work was accomplished as the girls’ skating ability did need to be tested to see who was eligible to be apart of the girls who actually perform during the intermission of the USC Ice Hockey games. They are also responsible for clearing the ice of snow throughout the USC Ice Hockey team's games.

The highlight of the evening was AGM Johnny Nguyen attempting figure skating tricks in his hockey skates. He made a valiant effort as he entertained all those who were there to witness.

There were some stumbles, some impressive tricks, and lots of laughter – all indicators that the USC Ice Girls are in store for a fantastic season.

This past week at Rivalry Night at the Honda Center, fans were able to meet their new USC Ice Girls team, and they were welcomed with open arms. The girls helped make the entire evening go off without a hitch and truly made a connection with the fans. Congratulations to the new Ice Girls who looked like seasoned pros at their debut event:

Alexandria, Amy, Daniele, Emily, Felicia, Jill, Joyce, Katie, Meghan, Rachel, and Treasure