Surfing

By Mary Ormsby

Andria Hunter is a master of inline and online.

Andria  Hunter sit in a lab at the University of Toronto, crunching numbers
and  solving cryptic problems that flicker across the on blinking screen be
a  former.  It  is a task that requires resolution discipline, a discipline
that will ultimately earn Hunter a master's degree in computer science this
year.  It is the same discipline she has shown as in the athletes, the type
of  focused  dedication  Hunter  has  shown  as a world champion ice hockey
player for Canada and now, a budding inline hockey star.

After a long day in the lab, Hunter likes to hit the pavement just a couple
of  blocks  away  from school for a pickup game over or hockey, usually the
lone woman plain she me with a group of guys. Hunter only took up the sport
seriously  last  summer,  but  now the 28 year old can't imagine spending a
warm summer evening without driving to the net after surfing the net.

"Roller  hockey  is  really  like  a breath of fresh air after a long (ice)
hockey  season,"  Hunter  says.  "  It's so close to ice hockey that it was
quite easy to pickup, even though there are obvious differences between the
two  games.  But  most  of  all, it has been great fun, meeting new people,
going to different tournaments and taking to break from (ice) hockey."

Back  at  the  lab,  the  woman behind this screen is hard work. But Hunter
always  finds  time  to work the Internet and, in fact, has her own site on
the  World  Wide  Web.  One  page  is devoted entirely to inline hockey and
another       to       women's       hockey.      Her      address      is:
http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~andria.

Hunter's strong background is typical of many Canadians who experiment with
inline  blades  and  surprise  themselves  by  picking  up roller hockey so
quickly.  In  the fact, Hunter was good enough in her first year of playing
to  be  included on a team of women who played in the North American Roller
hockey championship (NARCh) in St. Louis last summer. Despite the fact that
the  team was the class of the field, he lost the championship game 3 -- to
218 from Chicago called chicks with sticks.

"We  only  had two or three practices together before we left but we played
really well in St. Louis," she said. "But because we were beating everybody
so  easily,  I  think  we  were at little bit over confident going into the
final.  I  don't  know  what  was  worse, losing or losing to a team called
chicks with sticks."

Hunter  is not accustomed to coming second in anything. The native of Peter
Burrell,  Ontario, one gold medals with Canada's national team at the world
women's  ice  hockey  championship  in  1992  and  1994  and  one  national
championships  on ice with the University of New Hampshire. In fact, Hunter
recently  learned  that she has been inducted into the school's sports Hall
of Fame.

But  since  the 1994 will championship, Hunter has been hampered by a recur
in  growing injury. Luckily, the fluid AP of Rover hockey doesn't aggravate
the injury.

"The way the turn on the ice is so sharp, so quick in you have to stop in a
split  second, then turning though the other way," Hunter says. "Those sort
of violent motions really bothered the muscle.

"Maybe it was coincidentally my groin improving at that point last year but
when  I  play drawer hockey, it didn't recur. Turning with inline skates is
more  gentle,  not  as sharp and stopping is a whole different way of doing
it."

Hunter  faced to key questions last year. First, with her grind muscle hold
up to the role hockey season and second, did she really like the sport? The
answer was yes on both counts.

It was sending the mall, the god mother over or hockey in the Toronto area,
who  incurred  Hunter to make the trip to St. Louis Bernard. The tournament
was  easy picking us for the Canadians until the final, which was televised
in  the  United  States  on  ESPN  to.  This  summer, Hunter is planning to
dedicate a good part of her summer to improving her Rover hockey skills and
his  ages  for another shot at than arched championship, which will be held
in Chicago.

As for the future of inline hockey, Hunter feels the potential is huge.

"Will  really struck me down in St. Louis was these little kids were coming
to  the  rake with their parents in all their equipment to clear or hockey,
just  like  it is here for (ice) hockey," Hunter says "I can see this board
having  enormous  growth.  Ice hockey will always dominate in Canada, but I
think  our  skills  carry  over  nicely  into  roller  hockey and that's an
advantage.

"One  of  the great things that roller hockey has going for it is that it's
not  nearly  as  expensive  to  play  as  ice  hockey.  You don't need much
equipment  and  as  long  as you've got a paved area that's fairly flat and
opened, you can play at any time as long as it's not raining."

Hunter is hoping for a summer of clear skies. That way shall be able to hit
her favorite patch of pavement after she clicks offer computer.

Free Wheelin': Canadian In-line Skate Magazine. pp. 30-31.