PMHS sophomore Ava Karame will head to the Girls 15U USA Hockey Development Camp on July 10 after being selected for the national program in May.

This past year, Karame was the only girl on the PMHS JV ice hockey team.

“That was the first time I really played for my school,” said Karame, “It was really fun. I enjoyed it, and I loved playing against all the town teams.”

Karame started on the ice at age five, encouraged to play by her father. Soon after, she played on a boys team, but wanted to quit in her first year. Her brother’s commitment and passion for the sport convinced Karame to keep playing.

From there, her love of hockey only grew. Karame currently plays for a girls team, a boys club team and participates in various spring teams.

“The thing that works best for me is just being on the ice as much as I can,” Karame said.

To be selected for the national development camp, Karame progressed through a series of tryouts. In March, she attended the first with about 40 girls from Westchester. She advanced to Skaneateles in early May with 100 other girls from New York. After the state tryout, Karame was chosen for the national camp.

Karame and the others in the development program are on track to potentially being picked for the U.S. national team, as the 15U camp serves as a feeder for the 18U team that is then narrowed down to those who are selected for Team USA.

Karame and the other 15U Girls who were picked will go to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, for a week starting on July 10. Upon arriving at the camp, they will do a variety of training both on land and ice, the latter being through games and practices, said Karame.

The 15U program aims to further the team’s hockey skills through strength building, conditioning, nutrition courses, team bonding and mental skill courses, according to the USA Hockey website.

The increasing popularity of girls ice hockey has created more competition and a need for elite youth teams. In Westchester, the East Green Wave was created to solve this shortage and is composed of girls from various towns around the county.

In Pelham, girls have taken to playing on the East Green Wave only recently. While Karame chose to play for the PMHS JV instead, she sees the creation of the Wave as a big step toward getting more girls to play ice hockey.

“When I was seven or eight, there was no such thing as an all girl’s hockey team,” said Karame, “Now, I see it all the time.”

Karame said she looks to a younger group of rising eighth grade girls playing for Pelham Hockey. She said she hopes they try out for the 15U USA team next year.

“When I was little, knowing that there would have been a girls team option would have made me want to play even more,” she said. “I think it’s really good for these girls to have an environment where they can grow up with girls just like them who play their sport.”