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Churchville's Lyndsay Wall
to compete in 2002 Winter Olympics Churchville-Chili junior Lyndsay Wall will be the youngest woman hockey player ever to compete in the Olympics when she plays defense for Team USA at the Salt Lake Winter Games in February. Wall, who was born in Visalia, California on May 12, 1985, moved to Churchville prior to starting kindergarten in the Churchville-Chili Central School District in 1990. Her mother, Sandra Wall, says Lyndsay was a physical child who needed an outlet for her energy. Hockey became that outlet. When Lyndsay was five years old, Wall signed Lyndsay up with the Brockport Tri-County Eagles where, as the only girl, she played for the next three years. At the age of eight, Lyndsay moved up to the AAA Travel teams and over the next five years she served as captain of both the Pew Wee Minors and the PeeWee Majors. At 13, she went to Buffalo as a member of the Buffalo Regals Boy's Bantam Minor AAA Team, and at 15, Lyndsay led the Syracuse Stars to the 2001 USA Hockey girls 19 and under National Championship. As a member of the Churchville-Chili Saints Hockey team last year, Lyndsay led the team with a +5 rating for the season. Saints hockey coach Jim Jackson describes her as "a gifted athlete with phenomenal skating ability." He says, "Her focus was to make the team better, and there was never any controversy about her being the only girl on the team." When asked if there was any particular story he could tell about Lyndsay, Jackson relates that at the end of the season last year one player had not yet scored a goal. With under a minute left in the game, she passed him the puck and he scored. Wall has won many honors, including three bronze medals and a gold medal at the Empire State Games. Wall was also named 2002 Amateur Athlete of the Year in January by the Rochester Press Radio Club at its annual sports dinner. In addition to playing hockey, Wall has played softball since she was six, and is an all-star softball catcher. Her favorite National Hockey Team is the Pittsburgh Penguins and her favorite player is Jarimor Jagr of the Washington Capitals. At C-C, she particularly enjoys global studies and carries an overall academic average of 85. While still undecided about where she will attend college, her mother says she has expressed an interest in getting into a career related to the field of physical education and/or athletics. When asked how it feels to be the mother of such a gifted athlete, Wall says, "We're still pinching ourselves. It's like a dream - we're so proud of her." Kraig and Sandy Wall have followed their daughter throughout her hockey career, having attended all of the east coast games and most of the mid-west games. They will be flying out to Utah in early February to join Lyndsay and to be there for the scrimmage game against Russia on February 7, and the opening ceremonies on February 8. Facts and Stats
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