A clutch of the Barrie Junior Sharks gathers at the entrance of their change room at the East Bayfield Community Centre after a Thursday night practice as two of the players check their phones with excitement.
After navigating the sign-ins, it’s confirmed: They’re the latest to have offers to study and play on university hockey teams in the United States.
So far, 11 of the 20 players — aged 15 to 18 — have commitments to play on the post-secondary level and more offers are expected to follow in 2025.
“We’re really, really fortunate. We have a lot of kids that know that they’re going to move on and continue playing when they graduate from the program,” says coach Duane Eldridge. “From a coach’s perspective, that’s what you want to see — you want to see those kids excel and have those opportunities.”
To say the Barrie Junior Sharks women’s hockey team is having a great season might well be an understatement. The team, with players from all over Simcoe County and beyond, is joined this year by five from Alberta. Members have made Team Ontario, attended the national team camps and goalie Amelia Wilkinson, who they all call "Wheels," is heading to Finland in January to play in the world championships.
A couple of wins during league play the weekend before Christmas helped to boost the team’s season’s points with 14 wins, a shootout loss and an overtime loss.
The Sharks are building on last year’s success when the players took home bronze in the provincial championships. That success, in turn, attracted more players who wanted to compete for the team this year.
And it’s also caught the attention of hockey scouts, allowing many of the players continue with the sport beyond Barrie.
Eldridge says the team this year has managed to outplay its performance of last year.
Sonia Mehta, a 16-year-old Grade 11 Georgian Bay District Secondary School student from Midland, played with Wilkinson on the championship winning Team Ontario Red in New Brunswick in November. But the Barrie Sharks were well represented at the national championships with players Avah Sedore, Mae Severn and Kate Stuart all playing for Team Ontario Blue, and Ella Loyd competing for Team Alberta, at the U18 Canadian Women’s National Hockey Championships.
Mehta, who plays defence, has committed to St. Lawrence University in upstate New York in 2026. Some of the other schools other team members will be playing with include Boston College, University of Connecticut and Harvard University.
Mehta had been playing A in Midland and first came to Barrie to play AA hockey. This is her second season with the Sharks' junior team, commuting to the games and practices with three others from the Midland area.
Having the opportunity to play in New Brunswick in November, she says, was a great opportunity, given that it attracted the best players in the province.
And she sees much more hockey in her future.
“I hope to make the Team Ontario Red team next year,” she says. “I went to the Team Canada tryout this year, but I didn’t make it. I hope to try out again next year.
“And after St. Lawrence, I hope to play in the PWHL (Professional Women's Hockey League) on the national team.”
Wilkinson, who is in her third year playing with the Sharks, committed to play and study with the University of Connecticut in 2026. She is pretty pumped, having returned from playing in New Brunswick and now preparing to play on the national team in Finland.
Wilkinson, who is 17, is at her final year at Bill Crothers Secondary School in Markham, commutes to Barrie practices with her goalie partner, who lives nearby in Holland Landing. The two also do goalie training in Vaughan on Sunday nights.
“I grew to love the sport, I’m super passionate about it. My dreams have always been to go to nationals like we did and play on Team Canada and so I just try my best to work hard everyday,” she says.
Wilkinson's planning to spend her gap year working, playing and developing her strength to optimize her playing at the university level.
The coach, meanwhile, is marking Year 27 working with hockey teams since he started volunteering when his son started playing.
“This is by far one of the most fun years with the group we have that’s just so skilled, so driven, so determined,” says Eldridge, a trade superintendent with the Department of National Defence. “It’s just a lot of fun to watch these young kids grow and mature and get these amazing opportunities.”
