Author’s note: Buffalo Beauts goaltender Kelsey Neumann and I have teamed up to interview and spotlight young ladies (11-14 years old) who play hockey in the Buffalo-area. It is a chance for them to practice being interviewed and receive some additional recognition. This is the third in a series that we are doing together. This time we are spotlighting 11-year old forward Julia Peters!

Salty beans. Jack Eichel. And Jerry Rice.

I may have met the only 11-year old girl who knows who Jerry Rice is. She is well aware of Rice’s many accolades and his importance to sports in general as one of the greatest professional athletes of all time. Julia Peters meets me at Moe’s accompanied by her mom and also one of her coaches (Buffalo Beauts goalie Kelsey Neumann). She offers me a firm handshake and a bright smile. She’s decked out in a Jack Eichel jersey; her hockey hero. And for some reason, the beans in our food are extra salty tonight.

Julia Peters is a forward for the Girls 12U Buffalo Bisons. One of the youngest players on the squad, Peters informs me that she has been skating since she could walk. “I started by skating on the pond in our backyard. From there, I started playing organized hockey when I was 3-years old. Even now I still go skating on the pond every winter; from 6:00pm until 3:00am sometimes”. One thing that you will learn about Julia Peters from this piece is that she is an incredible all-around athlete. Peters mentions that she also has a swimming pool and a trampoline in her backyard too, and she makes very good use of all in order to stay fit and excel in sports.

“My parents are really what got me started with hockey. I was so young when I started that I don’t even remember the beginnings. I think that they just put me into a program to get me going”. Peters is the youngest of four, with an older sister and two older brothers. “My sister plays hockey too. My one older brother is in college. He switched schools, so he couldn’t try out for the team right away, but he is going to try out for U.B.’s team (University at Buffalo). But we have each been playing hockey all of our lives. My dad played too”. Looking into Peters’ extended family, her mother’s four brothers all played hockey and her grandfather coached the game as well. “It is just a really big sport throughout my family”.

Much like Jack Eichel, Julia Peters has an affinity towards the center position. Peters even flashes me a “C” with her hands when I first ask the question; signing to me that it is her favorite position. Pun intended, I eventually learn throughout the course of our conversation that this little lady is a “Jack of all trades”, so to speak. “I feel most comfortable at center. It is a very important position. I am willing to accept that responsibility, and I always try my hardest”. Good girl.

Anyone who has seen Jack Eichel play knows that he is an incredibly skilled individual, and a very “crafty” forward. I ask Peters if she had to describe her own style, how would she define herself as a forward? “I would probably say a power-forward. I am definitely not a sniper”, she laughs, “because I only have one goal”. Coach Kelsey Neumann begged to differ and said, “I think you are more of a playmaker. Anytime I see you play you are always setting up some great passes”. Coach typically knows best, and after some reconsideration, Peters can see why her coach feels this way about her. “I like scoring goals, but the reason why I only have one is because I usually set them up. My linemates have some goals off of my passes; Molly (Leggett) has three”. Playmaker it is then, and it sounds like she is performing at the position quite well.

Centers, even those who like to dish the puck out more than keep it to themselves, need to have an array of shots. Much like her professional counterparts, Peters invests the time needed to develop her various shots so that she has some options. “I have been working on my slapshot lately; I really like that one. My wrist shot is kind of ‘missily’ (cool word that Peters just invented). I practice in my basement, and I practice out on the ice too. I try different techniques to find one that I really like. I did this one today where I went bar down on the shot. I also did this other slapshot where my stick hits the ice first and I turn my wrist as I am striking the puck. It helps the puck to go up more”. Here is where Peters really impresses me: “The first time that we tested the speed of our shots, I was at 56-mph”. Keep in mind that this is an eleven year old girl. That is some serious firepower!

With that ‘missily’ shot of hers, I ask Peters if she has most memorable goal that she has scored in her hockey career so far. “Oh yeah. When I was playing with boys two years ago, I scored the first goal of the season. It was a one-timer that went bar down”. Peters fell when getting the shot off but like all highlight reel goals falling only made it look ten-times cooler!

Peters is actually in her first year with the Bisons. Prior to that she played 7-years with the Hamburg Hawks, another local youth hockey club. In addition to club hockey, Peters plans on giving it her best go when she tries out for the varsity high school hockey team next year. Hailing from Orchard Park, she is excited to begin her high school career. The Orchard Park’s girls hockey team is part of a conglomerate formed with Lakeshore and Frontier high schools as well. For young girls who play hockey in the Buffalo area, having a professional women’s hockey team whom they can get up close and personal with offers a unique opportunity for inspiration. Having a coach like Kelsey Neumann imparting experience from the pro level is a rarer treat. “It’s actually very fun, and I can tell people – ‘I have a professional hockey player’s phone number!'”. A simple pleasure, but definitely a confidence booster for sure. Julia looks up to Kelsey, and her mom is grateful that she has Kelsey as a role model.

With confidence and a positive mindset, anything is possible. I asked Peters what dreams does she hope to accomplish in her hockey career. She says, “Oooh, my mom knows this one – I want to be the second girl to play in the NHL”. Okay, so Miss Peters, what do you need to do in order to accomplish that dream? “Work hard. Play hard. Get stronger. Build my muscles”.

It is not always easy though. Players can fall into slumps. Forwards can run into issues with coughing up turnovers or not finding the back of the net. “When that happens, I examine myself. Sort of look inside. I’ll even smack myself upside the helmet too to get my head back into the game. It helps me to get refocused. I stop and think about where I am at and what I am doing. I tell myself, ‘Get back in the game, or else you have to do pushups when you get home!’. I have actually made myself do pushups a few times”.

And there is family of course too. Coming from a long line of hockey players, Peters’ family is her cornerstone as she continues to move toward those dreams. “It seems like my mom and my dad are never out of the car. They always take me to all of my games and practices. Earlier this season, I arrived at the rink but I had forgotten my equipment. My dad drove all the way home to get it. I ended up only playing 6-minutes that practice, but what mattered most was that my dad took the time to go get my equipment for me”.

“The most important thing that I have learned from hockey is that you have to have confidence. If I have a teammate whose confidence is lacking, I’ll tell them, ‘It’s okay, just chill. Just forget about it'”. It makes me feel good to see that Julia Peters has her own strong sense of self confidence. A likeable self confidence at that. Confidence amongst young girls can be contagious, and when one is filled to the brim with that confidence, it is only natural for it to spill over and into others. Peters tells me, “I am a crazy, wild, nonstop, talkative, chatterbox”. It is perhaps no wonder then that she is also well known for coming up with a variety of cheers for her teammates to boost their spirits and get them into the game.

Throughout the course of our interview Peters even threw in a few “dabs”. And after originally attributing the “dab” to football’s Odell Beckham Jr. , she corrects herself by stating that it was quarterback Cam Newton who came up with the slick move. “I know a bit about every sport. I surprise my mom all the time. She’ll say, ‘how do you know this?’. I can play hockey, softball, gymnastics, badminton and swimming. I like football, but hockey is my life”. Asked who her favorite football player – “Jerry Rice”. I mean, wow.

With our interview at an end, it is her same self-confidence that leads Peters to approach one of the cooks and politely inform them that their beans are little salty tonight. No rudeness or discourtesy at all. Just an eleven year old young lady speaking her mind, and expressing something that she felt the workers may want to know in order to provide better service. Julia Peters has some pizazz and could have the world by the tail if she wanted too. And because of that unbridled enthusiasm, I would not at all be surprised if she does become the next woman to make it to the NHL. Great job, kiddo!