Stick it to the man

She applies mascara, puckers her lips and shaves her legs. Then she straps on knee pads, laces up skates and hits hockey pucks.

This season, first-year Kelsey Farson skated her way through tryouts to become the only woman on UNC’s club roller hockey team.

“I wear dresses, rings and bracelets, but when I put on my hockey gear, I’m just like one of the guys,” said Farson, who plays forward.

“You can be someone that can compete at the same level as men, and at the same time you can be completely woman.”

This weekend, the team, which is part of the Southeast Collegiate Roller Hockey League, will travel to Atlanta for its first tournament of the season.

The team will face off against four opponents: the University of Central Florida, Western Carolina University, the University of South Florida and the College of Charleston.

“Every time I play with guys, I feel like I have to prove myself,” Farson said. “The guys accept each other automatically. But for me, they doubt my ability every time I play.”

Despite her inhibitions, Farson is highly competitive.

“I love hockey because at the core it’s just a fast-paced, fun to watch sport,” she said.

She said she began playing hockey out of boredom. Farson, her father Jak and some of the neighborhood children would gather for a game of street hockey. She’s been playing competitively since she was 12 years old.

“All of a sudden, she was at these national hockey camps and making these national teams,” Jak Farson said. “Who would have ever thought this little girl from North Carolina would make national teams?”

She has played on men and women’s teams, including five different Junior Olympic teams. In 2007, she earned a Team America title, an award given annually to eight female skaters and two goalies.

She was also offered a full scholarship to Dartmouth College to play Division I ice hockey, but after winning the Morehead-Cain Scholarship, Farson decided to attend UNC.

“At Fall Fest, my No. 1 goal was to find the in-line hockey table,” she said. “Mission was accomplished.”

At 5 feet 10 inches tall, Farson is about the same height as some of her teammates.

Her helmet hides her brown shoulder-length hair, and her body pads conceal her hourglass figure.

“If you were an outsider watching our practice, you’d see people with helmets on,” coach Ryan Gaus said. “You wouldn’t be able to look and say, ‘Oh there’s a girl.’”

Although Farson feels she has to prove herself as a player, Gaus said the rest of the team accepts her.

“I think they realize that in some cases she has more hockey sense than they do,” he said.

Because she blends so well with her other teammates, Farson said she feels exhilarated removing her helmet after games and showing other teams who their opponent was.

“There’s always a, ‘Hey, that’s a girl. There’s a girl on their team,’” she said.

Farson said she has been ridiculed on several occasions after removing her helmet.

After one win, a frustrated opponent told her to go home and play with dolls.

In practice, Farson receives no special treatment. She plays scrimmages, runs drills and does push-ups with the rest of the team.

“I’m this home-schooled girl who’s kind of naive to the world around her, and then I’m playing this very man sport,” she said.

Sometimes, Farson is left with black eyes after pickup games at Rams Head Recreation Center.

But she bruises the boys right back.

“You can see the testosterone coming out when you play with these guys,” Farson said jokingly.

“I have to prove my manhood.”



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