MY STORY IS
HER STORY…
The doors at AdventHealth Center Ice (AHCI), formerly Florida
Hospital Center Ice, in Wesley Chapel have been open for just over
two years, but this facility has already shown it is much more than just a
standard ice rink.
In the short time that AHCI has been operating,
it has already hosted major events including
USA Hockey’s Adult National Championships,
Tours Roller Hockey Championships, and the
Taste of New Tampa/Wesley Chapel.
In a few weeks they will also host USA Hockey’s Sled Nationals and the
Disabled Festival and AHCI has been the figure skating training home of
French pair of Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres who competed at the
2018 Winter Olympics while also hosting
the residency program home for the US
Women’s Olympic Hockey Team that took
gold in South Korea.
Now, AHCI is once again breaking the
mold in hosting something unique and the
first of its kind for an extended period –
the HERStory virtual women’s sports
museum.
The 2018 gold medal winning USA Women’s Olympic Team is celebrated
when you look out to Rink C
The HERStory Museum, located
in the north viewing room on
the rink’s second floor, has
transformed the once plain gray
walls which are now adorned
with images of prominent women
who have made incredible
contributions via the sport of
hockey.
Autographed photos of the 2018 gold medal team now hang above the
overlook to Rink C. Other memorabilia hangs along a large border with
faint images of women hockey players old and new. Among them is a selfie
corner where you can post a picture to social media. There is a station
dedicated to the 37 words of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
that opened new doors for women in colleges including sports.
The main feature in the museum are the stations for five women who each
contributed something different to the sport of hockey. Katey Stone, is the
current coach at Harvard; Sara DeCosta-Hayes was a goaltender on the
1998 Women’s Olympic Team (first time US won gold); Amanda Pelkey from
the 2018 gold medal team; Katie
Guay, the first female to referee
a men’s NCAA game; and Title IX
trailblazer Murphy. The stations on
the wall provide a brief bio and an
inspirational message about how
Title IX impacted them.
When you scan the QR code, or
send a text code to a number with
your phone, you will be taken to a webpage where you can explore more
information about these women including a several minute video of them
telling their stories. The videos all begin…”My Story is Her Story”.
The HERStory museum was the idea of
the tandem of female sports pioneer Digit
Murphy and local community leader Jeff
Novotny.
Jeff is known in the Wesley Chapel community
as the co-owner of American Consulting
Professionals, a transportation engineering
and planning firm located next to Center Ice.
He is a past president of the Wesley Chapel
Chamber of Commerce and presently on the board of directors for SAHOF
(Statewide Amateur Hockey of Florida). An advocate for women and girls
in hockey, he has known Digit for a number of years, having met when his
youngest daughter Madison attended one of Murphy’s girl hockey camps.
Digit Murphy has a long history
in hockey – star player at Cornell,
20+ year head coach at Brown,
head coach of the Boston Blades
of the CWHL and most recently
head coach of Kunlun Red Star in
China, as they develop a program
to compete at the 2022 Winter
Olympics that will be held in
China. She also founded the United Women’s Lacrosse League, the first
professional league in that sport. Back when she coached the Blades,
she with Blades GM Aronda Kirby created the non-profit, Play It Forward
Sport Foundation to expand opportunities and help educate young athletes
and United Women’s Sports, which focuses on globally unifying women’s
sports.
A selfie corner
gives you a
chance to take a
pic and post to
social media
Digit Murphy and Jeff Novotny cut the
ribbon to open the HERStory Virtual Sports
Museum at AdventHealth Center Ice
Jeff Novotny, Amanda Novotny and Digit
Murphy celebrate the grand opening
By Wayne Pappolla
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