
January 30, 2025 · 2 Comments
By Brian Lockhart
Orangeville athlete Natasha Lange will compete at the ISBHF U20 Ball Hockey Championships in Poprad, Slovakia as a member of Team Canada during the international tournament in July 2025.
A graduate of Orangeville District Secondary School where she played on the volleyball team, Natasha is currently a student studying business at York University in Toronto.
She plays left wing on the York University Women’s hockey team.
Being recruited for the national team is the culmination of a lot of hard work and dedication as an athlete.
Natasha has been playing ice hockey and ball hockey since she was in elementary school. She started out on the ice playing hockey locally before playing at the Junior level with the Brampton Canadettes.
With limited availability of ball hockey locally, Natasha’s father Ray organized a local girl’s ball hockey league in 2018 that went on to compete at the provincial level.
As she became more involved in ball hockey, Natasha’s career on the ice was also doing well. She captained the North York Storm Junior team in the 2023-24 season.
Natasha went on to play with the New Tecumseth Ball Hockey League. In 2019, her team went to the provincials and won gold. Natasha was named the Forward MVP of the tournament.
“That tournament really brought out my interest in going further with ball hockey,” Natasha explained. “I started taking it more seriously. I wanted to play harder and get better.”
In 2023, Natasha was awarded the Avery Andrews Memorial Award, which is awarded to one junior athlete each year in New Tec Ball Hockey. It goes to the athlete who displays leadership, teamwork, skill, and comradery on and off the floor.
In 2022, she had the opportunity to ‘play up’ in a women’s division team and gained valuable experience.
It was at a national women’s ball hockey tournament in Edmonton when recruiters were in the stands and noticed Natasha’s skill. Just after that tournament, she played in a U20 tournament in Saskatchewan.
“You didn’t know anything about recruit or if they were interested in you, you just had to kind of wait,” Natasha explained. “In September, the week before classes started, I was out with my Mom at Costco and I received an e-mail from the general manager of Team Canada. They asked me if I was interested in being rostered on Team Canada which would play in 2025 in Slovakia. I was so ecstatic, I was jumping up and down with joy.”
Natasha will be playing the centre position with the national team.
Since Team Canada has players from across the country, Natasha won’t meet her teammates until the week before the tournament when they arrive in Slovakia.
“It’s so much fun, especially when you’re with girls that have the same aspirations as you,” Natasha said. “They want to go further, and want to win. They all want to be there and be a great team. Whoever wins this tournament will be named the world champions. We’re going to be flying there a week before the tournament. We’ll be practicing and having a training week – essentially, that’s when we meet as a team. We’ll get to know each other, build a culture, and get familiar with each other.”
The World Championships will take place in Poprad, Slovakia from July 2-6.
Natasha,
Congratulations to you and the entire team on this fantastic achievement! Your hard work and collaboration really paid off. Well done!”.
Love Mom
Congrats Natasha,
Your hard work paid off!!
Love Mom