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NORWICH – She was four years old when she first stepped onto the ice with a hockey stick in her hands. Now, Madison Lawrence can be found as the only girl as a member of the Utica Jr. Comets.
Lawrence’s success in the youth hockey world hasn’t come without a price. Even at the young level, playing hockey is a large obligation. Lawrence has made sacrifices just to play the great sport of ice hockey, and to make her dream of becoming a professional hockey player come true.
Most kids her age are having fun at slumber parties on the weekends. Most families are sitting down to have dinner together every night, but not the Lawrence’s.
Their nights and weekends are for practice and games.
During the winter season, Lawrence’s team is the Utica Jr. Comets Elite. Traveling over an hour one way, three times a week for practices, hockey has been an extensive commitment not only by Lawrence but by her family as well.
On top of her practice three times a week, Lawrence takes part in weekly dry land training and power skating sessions outside of her normal practices, along with skills and drills she works on at home in a room she dedicates hockey training to. “It’s a huge commitment for her,” said her father, Jason Lawrence. “That’s on top of her normal schoolwork.”
Lawrence carries grades of 90-percent or above across all subjects in school. Not only does she love to learn, Lawrence has earned Norwich Middle School Icon, an award that resembles “student of the month,” three times this school year. On top of her grades, she is also a part of the middle school orchestra as a violin player.
With all of that Lawrence is involved in, she does have to give up a lot more than any other middle school aged athlete does. However, sacrifice is apart of what she stands by as a member of the Utica Comet Culture.
The Comets Jr. handbook reads, “Our Comets stand fearless. They find something they would die for and breathe their life into it. But at the end of the day, it’s important to know there will always be people who have made far greater sacrifices. So take internal responsibility for your actions and surrender your own self for the common cause. Leaders sacrifice individual glory for the benefit of the team. These same leaders create leaders, just as Comets create Comets.”
