There may have been a slap shot, a bruised eye, a couple of fights and some flipping over the boards, but that’s just what an average day on the Shirley backyard rink looked like. 

Little did the Sophie and Grace Shirley know that years later they would end up on the same ice together again, 1,200 miles from home at the University of Wisconsin, playing for the five-time national championship women’s hockey team.

Sophie, a sophomore, brought home the title her first year of collegiate play in 2018-19. At the start of this season though, she gained not only a trophy but her long-time partner in crime and freshman sister, Grace, as a teammate. 

Where it all started
The Shirley household was the place to be during winters in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where hockey was the talk of the day everyday for Carol and Tim Shirley who had to juggle four kids on skates. 

“We grew up with two older brothers who also played hockey,” Sophie said. “So we were just always around the sport. We were always together. We really have a close relationship, a really good bond here.”

Sophie and Grace learned the sport from their older brothers, Keenan and Collin. Although Keenan has stepped away from the ice, Collin laced up for five years in the WHL and currently plays for the Huskies as a junior at the University of Saskatchewan. 

That's only the tip of the iceberg for the Shirleys as their family holds a hockey legacy. 

The siblings' grandfather, Jim Shirley, was the backup goaltender for the Detroit Red Wings from 1949-50. He has played for multiple teams including the EHL Johnstown Jets. In the summers, Jim would play ball with fellow teammate and Canadian hockey legend Gordon Howe. 

Despite the history, Grace wasn’t totally sold on hockey until she saw her sister spraying snow. 

“I always bounced around from different sports, but once I saw Soph get into it and my brothers play it, we both kind of wanted to be like them, so we started playing,” said Grace. 

From then on, the sisters’ love for the sport developed to match their fiery personalities on the annual Shirley backyard rink, courtesy of their dad. 

“We're pretty competitive,” said Grace, “Looking back we always talk about [the rink] and have some laughs. There's so many games that got pretty out of control, but I think we’re just both competitive, and we want to win.”

Injuries weren’t above regulation on the rink though growing up.

“I came out of there one time,” Grace started with a laugh. “We were playing a game of shinny in our backyard rink, and I was wearing a helmet with no cage. Soph wound up for a slap shot, and I had a big black eye.”

“I think at the end of the day, that's what makes us who we are, and that's what makes us better everyday.”

Coming to Wisconsin
Despite being only two years apart, Sophie and Grace never truly played a regular season of hockey together before coming to Wisconsin. 

Beyond summer and spring camps, the two were able to share a couple games together during their early years on the Saskatoon Stars where Sophie at 15 earned MVP and first-team all-star league honors. Grace, then 13, was able to play up occasionally and helped Sophie and the Stars to the 2015 Provincial championship and a bronze medal in the Esso Cup. 

The Shirley’s didn’t realize until later that their dream of playing together was actually a possibility. 

Along the way to becoming a Badger, Sophie took the 2017-18 year to play for the Calgary Inferno in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League to help her not only mature and grow as a person but to develop further on the ice. 

“It was something that I really just kind of needed for myself,” said Sophie, who took the league by storm and earned CWHL Rookie of the Year honors that season.

That year she gained more than character though, she gained an extra season playing with her sister at Wisconsin. 

“I think it's something we wanted because we push each other to get better,” Grace said. 

Their brothers weren’t the only influence on the Shirley sisters in making hockey their passion. The duo played shared the same Saskatoon rink with former Badger and 2018 Olympian Emily Clark (Wisconsin forward, 2014-19). 

“Growing up, us three, we were always skating together,” Sophie said. “Once me and Grace saw that Emily had committed to the University of Wisconsin, we'd been to a couple games watching her. I think that's when it set in for the both of us that we really wanted to come to the UW together and that would be a big dream of ours for sure.”

Sophie shared her first year at Wisconsin with Clark in 2018-19 and made quite the impression being named another Rookie of the Year this time for the WCHA after posting 38 points off 20 goals and 18 assists in 41 games. 

Despite having only one Badger season with Clark, it was a championship season for Sophie to remember and one to hopefully look forward to repeating with her sister in the future. 

“Being able to experience that last year in my freshman year is something really special and something I'll never forget,” Sophie said. “To be able to maybe have the chance to do it together would be something I'm really looking forward to.”

Grace decided against taking a CWHL year of her own being too eager to get down to Wisconsin and start playing with her sister. 

“Having Soph here already, and definitely with Emily [Clark] too -- obviously she was leaving -- but they both really helped me and made me feel ready and confident to come here [to UW],” Grace said.

Cutting it with the Badgers
Sophie and Grace are just the third sister duo to wear the ‘W’. 

Brooke and Brittany Ammerman, River Vale, NJ natives, were the first siblings to make an appearance for the Wisconsin women’s hockey team playing for two seasons together from 2010-12 sharing the 2011 national championship title together. Brooke who finished the program as the fourth all-time leading scorer with 215 career points played 2008-12 while Brittany, the first Badger to win the Hockey Humanitarian Award, hit the ice 2010-15.

Twins Alev and Derya Kelter played for the Badgers from 2009-13, also enjoying the 2011 championship together. The Eagle River, Alaska natives both played for Wisconsin’s women’s soccer team from 2009-11 also, missing the first dozen games of each hockey season to take on both Division I sports. 

“It's obviously pretty cool,” Sophie said.

While the Wisconsin men’s hockey team is known for its long list of legacies and brother combos, currently hosting three sets of siblings on its 2019-20 roster. That’s a rarity for the women which makes these next three years all the more valuable to the Badger family.  

“It's super nice for our parents to be able to come down and see the both of us at one place. We're excited about it. We love it,” Sophie added.

And the joy of having the opportunity to play together under the same name never ends.

“[Grace is] someone who is really focused, someone who is very hard working, and I think even being the older one, she's someone that I really look up to because of those things,” Sophie explained. 

The Shirleys each have an individual burst of skill and talent unmatched on the ice like a pair of freshly sharpened skates. A pair of sharp blades makes for an undeniable edge. Where there’s one Shirley, you’ll surely find the second. 

“With school, because it's so busy and we have that gap, we're not usually together that much during the day. But when we are able to be together, we're always together,” Sophie said. “We're always doing something together, whether it’s school or whatever it is, we always seem to find each other, and I think that's when we work best is when we're together and being able to push each other on and off the ice.”

Red and White through and through
There’s always a chance the siblings will continue to play with one another beyond Wisconsin as both have represented Team Canada at multiple contests. 

Sophie joined Canada’s U-18 Women’s World Junior Championship team in 2016, tallying five points in five games to help the squad to a silver medal. She also represented the nation in the 2017 IIHF U-18 World Championships and attended the Hockey Canada Fall Festival earlier this year with fellow Canadian Kristen Campbell. 

Grace on the other hand most recently played a crucial part of the gold-medal winning team at the 2019 IIHF U-18 World Championships in Obihiro, Japan. 

“It's super cool. To be able to play at that stage is obviously a huge honor -- to be able to represent your country,” Sophie said. “To be able to go through the program together and have those experiences has been a dream of ours and we're going to continue to try and make that dream come true.”

The youngest Shirley made U-18s her second year, which was the first time the sisters put the national jersey on at the same time. 

Playing for Team Canada and Team Saskatchewan is a major development and a connection to their roots for the Shirley sisters. The siblings and Clark played in a national tournament together representing their province at home in Regina. The tournament was an experience and exposure for the Shirleys that gave them a stepping stone to reach Wisconsin. 

“Being able to represent our province and have the tournament be in our province was really cool and something we dreamt of doing too,” Sophie added.

Sophie and Grace may not be sure yet that the Shirley name is that famous in Saskatoon, saying their brother’s connection to the University of Saskatchewan is their way in. If it’s not known yet, the name is surely on the rise there just as it is here in Madison. 

“Saskatoon was a really big part of our hockey career like playing our minor hockey there too,” Sophie said. “We're grateful for that organization.”

What’s next for the Shirleys
Sophie held a five-game goal streak this season wherein she earned her first collegiate career hat trick against LIU Oct. 19, the same series in which Grace earned her first career goal. 

“That was super cool,” Sophie said, remembering Grace’s point. “I was jumping up and down on the bench when she [scored]. It's a super special moment for her and something I was really proud of her.”

No matter what is next for the Shirleys this season and beyond though, there will always be those shared memories on the backyard rink.

“There were always some pretty heated tournaments going on back there,” Grace said smiling. 

“You look back on it, and it makes you laugh,” Sophie added. “But those are memories that last a lifetime.”