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Wolf teen chases icy dreams

Posted in hockey, tagged , , , , on January 30, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville 7th grader Collin Mirabile is ready to rumble on the ice. (Photos courtesy James Mirabile)

Whidbey Island is not exactly a hockey hotbed.

Which doesn’t mean Coupeville teenagers can’t succeed on the ice — they just have to put in extra work to get anywhere near the ice in the first place.

One Wolf bucking the odds is CMS 7th grader Collin Mirabile, who makes the trek North to Bellingham to play for the Whatcom Warriors U13A squad in the Whatcom County Amateur Hockey Association.

A defenseman with a knack for scoring goals, the soon-to-be 13-year-old is following in the footsteps of big brother Ethan, a senior at Oak Harbor High School.

The duo first began playing hockey when the family lived in the other Washington on the far side of the country, hefting sticks and chasing pucks while growing up in the DC suburbs.

Collin Mirabile, who competed in track and field for CMS as a 6th grader, is now in his fourth season on the ice.

A two-way warrior.

With the move to Whidbey, pursuing hockey has meant either going to Bellingham or Seattle, and the brothers opted to play closer to the Canadian hub of the sport.

The Mirabile’s and Whatcom lace up their skates in a league based out of British Columbia, the Pacific Coast Amateur Hockey Association.

It’s an intensive season, with games as far away as Whistler and 50+ contests on the schedule.

Whatcom boasts two U13C teams and the U13A team that Collin plays with.

That group is battling for 3rd place in its flight, with a pair of strong 2nd place finishes at B.C. tourneys already to its credit.

While his primary work comes on the defensive side of the ice, Collin is also a sharp-eyed sniper with the puck on his stick, having scored several times from the blue line or on breakaways.

He also has a string of assists, setting up other Whatcom players for goals of their own.

As he chases his icy dreams, Collin will make the jump to the U15 level next season, where full-scale checking is allowed.

It’s a change he’s looking forward to, according to his dad.

“That will be a whole new experience for him,” James Mirabile said.

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Wolf hoops welcomes East Coast transplant!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , , on November 19, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Charlotte Langille (Submitted photo)

   Charlotte Langille, who moved to Coupeville from New Hampshire, gives the Wolf hoops squad an injection of height. (Submitted photo)

The East Coast’s loss is Coupeville’s gain.

Two Wolf teams could benefit greatly from the addition of a talented young woman who recently moved to Whidbey Island with her family.

Charlotte Langille arrived on The Rock in June, a transplant from Dover, New Hampshire.

A senior at CHS, she is returning to basketball after taking a year off, then plans to bring her state meet-tested throwing skills to the Wolf track and field squad in the spring.

Coupeville fans will get their first look at Langille when she takes the basketball court, joining the two-time defending 1A Olympic League champs.

A 5-foot-11 post player, she instantly provides the Wolves with something every hoops coach covets — height.

Langille started playing basketball in the seventh grade (“my parents pushed me to play because of my height and I figured why not, because I like staying active during the school year anyways”) and quickly came to love the game.

She had to take a detour during her sophomore season, however, when two concussions prematurely ended her year.

After sitting out her junior campaign (“I wasn’t confident in my skills since missing a season”), the move to a new town re-lit the basketball spark.

“This season I pushed myself to just go out and play and I am so glad that I did,” Langille said.

“The part about basketball I enjoy the most is definitely the team atmosphere and how all the girls kinda become your family,” she added. “Having each others back on and off the court.”

Langille has jumped right in, learning Coupeville’s system and meshing her skills with those of her new teammates.

She has high hopes for her return to the court.

“My strengths are my height and wanting to learning new things and be the best basketball player I can be,” Langille said. “My goal in the upcoming season is to become more confident in my playing skills.”

After basketball, she plans to pick the shot put back up. As a junior she finished sixth at the Vermont Indoor State Championships.

While basketball and track are pretty much the same anywhere, perhaps the biggest change for Langille has been adapting to moving far away from the hub of hockey.

“From growing up with a father and sister who both play, we were a hockey family,” she said. “Always watching the Boston Bruins and, even living 3,000 miles away, I still try to watch every game.”

Other than a noticeable lack of ice rinks, the area is growing on Langille (“I’m loving the West Coast”) and she plans on staying in the region for college.

As she goes forward through her final year of high school and on, the newest Wolf knows she can always rely on those closest to her to provide support and encouragement.

“The people who have had a big impact on making me become the person I am are definitely my parents,” she said. “They have always been a huge support in whatever I choose to do.”

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