Laurier student caps collegiate sports career with high honours

April 23, 2014 · 0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart – As a graduating student and member of the women’s hockey team at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Orangeville’s Candice Styles is ending her collegiate level sports career with top honours after being named the University’s female Athlete of the Year.

Candice was also named a Canadian InterUniversity Sport (CIS) First Team All-Canadian in March.

As a fifth year student and athlete at the school, she has been a member of the women’ hockey team for the entire duration playing the last three years on defence after making the switch from a forward position.

“When the coach lost a couple of defence, he asked if I could help out and make the switch,” Candice explained, adding that even though she made the change to playing back, she still is “more involved up front, playing more as forward defence.”

Like most athletes who achieve a high level of skill, the 23 year-old has been on the ice a long time beginning when she was just a Tyke after making the switch from figure skating after watching her brother play hockey.

She thought playing a game rather than just skating was “more exciting.”

It didn’t take long for her skill on the ice to be noticed.

By age 15, she was playing at the Junior Level with the Kitchener Rangers of the Provincial Women’s Hockey League.

Choosing a University can be a somewhat daunting task, but Candice focused on Laurier for several reasons.

“The hockey team has a great legacy, and I wanted to be part of that,” she said. “I made the decision to go to Laurier because it’s close and it’s one of the top athletic schools.”

While many student athletes look to the U.S. when hoping for a scholarship, Candice said the Canadian University athletic system is far more advanced than many people believe.

“Don’t write off any Canadian schools (when it comes to athletics). Do your homework. There are options out there,” is her advice to athletes preparing to enter an institute of higher learning. Keep training and pushing hard.”

She adds that staying national means you can play for a team that ‘represents your country’ if you make it to the higher level of the sport.

Graduating means her days at the collegiate level are over, but Candice has plans to continue in her hockey career.

“There are so many great athletes in that school,” she said of Laurier. “Without my team I couldn’t have had that much success. It was a great honour to end my career that way,” She said of being selected female

Athlete of the Year.

Currently, Candice is running her own business in Orangeville, but has plans of continuing on the ice.

“I’m going to try to got to the Canadian Women’s Hockey League,” and further down the line, she’s considering on passing on her knowledge of the sport to younger players by becoming involved at the coaching level.