WEYBURN – Ashton Bender, a third-year forward with the Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Gold Wings, was honoured in her hometown of Moosomin as she was inducted into the Wall of Fame at the Mike Schwean Arena. A ceremony for the induction was held at the arena on Dec. 23.
According to a bio provided by the Moosomin World-Spectator, she has been playing hockey for 14 years and developed a passion for the game at an early age as a result of the family passion for the sport and shared competitive spirit for the game with her older brother Jayden.
Ashton began her minor hockey days with the Moosomin Rangers and played on many successful teams with and against many friends who continue to play at the highest levels in their age groups.
As Ashton continued to play minor hockey she also had a strong desire to compete at the highest levels female hockey would provide which included playing on female spring team programs, first with the Atlas Hockey Academy Titans based primarily in Caronport, Sask.
This program brought together the top 2005-born girls in southern Saskatchewan to compete in elite female hockey tournaments in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, North Dakota and Minnesota.
In 2019, Ashton competed with the Notre Dame Hounds 2005 Spring program in two tournaments in Calgary and Winnipeg, leading the team in points en route to their tournament championship in Calgary.
Ashton focused primarily on female hockey programming in 2018 as she joined the Parkland Fire Bantam program. A strong year in her final Bantam campaign, as well as competing in Bantam Sask First programs in both Bantam years, led to the opportunity to join the Saskatchewan Female AAA Hockey League with a spot on the Weyburn Richardson Pioneer Gold Wings as a forward.
In 2020 it was a shortened season, as COVID meant the team could only compete in five games prior to the season cancellation, however Ashton managed to score her first AAA goal on the powerplay in her first game of the season. In 2021 they saw a return to a complete league schedule, and while the team was not as successful on the ice as hoped, it was a personal success for Ashton who was named an Assistant Captain and was the team leader in points. Ashton is again an Assistant Captain in her third and final year competing with the Gold Wings.
She is focused on having another strong year and attracting an opportunity to compete in the CIS for a USPORTS team while also focusing her studies in the medical profession.
