All March, we are celebrating International Women’s month by showcasing some of the women and girls who show their Hurricane pride, have paved the way for others or are role models for the future of our league. Today we are profiling another player in our organization: Victoria Lanni.
MGHL: Hi Victoria, thanks for participating in our International Women’s Day series. Tell readers a bit about your role models and who you look up to.
I have been lucky to always have good role models in my life, and my parents top that list. It was only when I started playing for the Mississauga Hurricanes last year that I realized just how valuable it is for me to have a female role model not part of my own family.
I am very fortunate to have established what I hope will be a lasting relationship with my U-15 AA coach, Brittney Cosmo. She is the first female head coach I’ve ever played for and, throughout this pandemic-shortened season, she has been the one person who I could turn to, on and off the ice, for motivation, guidance, and support.
MGHL: What is your dream for your career?
With respect to hockey, I hope to play at a competitive level in university and then maybe, one day, turn pro. When it’s “time to hang up the skates” competitively, I would like to pursue a health or medicine-related career where I can help people to be the healthiest and happiest versions of themselves.
MGHL: Tell us why you started playing hockey. Why do you still play?
I learned to skate on my backyard rink as soon as I was able to walk. A decade later, I started to realize that playing hockey was something I might have a chance to be really good at … good enough to compete at the highest competitive levels for female players. A decade from now, hopefully, there will be a successful professional women’s hockey league that I can be a part of. Picturing that now, as a teenager, is something that excites me. I hope that if I continue to work hard to be the best that I can be, achieving my goals will be worth some of the sacrifices I may have to make along the way. The bottom line is that I still play because my ultimate goal is to realize my full potential as a hockey player.
Read the other posts in this series:
MGHL coaches Darcy Breakey and Brittney Cosmo
U15AA player Addison Gutcher
U15AA player Olivia Fantino