Alyssa Wruble, 17, is a junior at Northampton Area High School. She's also the only girl on the co-ed hockey team. Most people would congratulate her on being so fearless and not letting her gender stop her from doing something she truly loves: playing hockey. But, recently, she was humiliated by some crude bullying — while she was in the middle of a game, no less.
During a championship playoff game, Alyssa could hear hateful chanting from the sidelines. Then, a crude sign appeared outside of the glass during the game, allegedly being held up by fans for the rival team. It was mean-spirited, clearly mocking Alyssa by suggesting she was not really a girl. “Alyssa gender reveal?” it asked, followed by a blue box with the symbol for the male sex and a pink box with the symbol for the female sex.
Alyssa says she’s used to a different kind of attention than the boys on the team receive. She told Lehigh Valley Live this week that sometimes people cheer louder for her if she scores a goal but she shrugs off the attention. “I laugh at that,” she said. “I take the hit. I know I what I signed up for.”
However, this situation was obviously pretty upsetting.
“When I skated over, all I heard was ‘Wruble, you’re a dude,’ and apparently my uncle and aunt and also my father also heard them saying that I have a penis,” she told Fox 29. “It was really loud. The whole student section had to be doing it.” No matter what age a team player is, that kind of sideline behavior is downright wrong and uncalled for.
It was an important game. Alyssa tried hard to be focused but she could hear hateful chants as soon as she took the ice, she said. “I just kept my head down, I just played and I just kept focused on the game,” she said. “I wasn’t going to let them get into my head and ruin the game for me.”
Then the sign appeared. Alyssa's mother saw it and said she was so filled with anger, she was shaking. “You don’t want to see something like that about your child,” she said. Soon after, she said the rink manager had the sign taken down, after people complained.
In spite of the horrible bullying on the sidelines, Alyssa played her heart out anyway. She scored two goals in the game. The rival team is said to be condemning the awful behavior of their team's fan. But Alyssa has not get gotten an apology.
While school bullying is a huge problem, that someone would go so far to mock this young woman for doing something she loves is unsettling. And it's got to be a bit embarrassing, even for the toughest of kids. Alyssa obviously isn't letting anyone stop her, but there should certainly be some repercussions for the bullies in question.
Alyssa's aunt took to social media to share what had happened. In a lengthy post, she wrote, "Those of you that know me, know that I generally do not do a lot with social media, or in my case, Facebook, which is the only thing I even play with. When I do post, it’s generally something lighthearted and simple. Not this time!"
She continued, "My niece Alyssa, is a junior at Northampton High School. This tiny little thing is an amazing hockey player. And I’m not talking field hockey… I mean ice hockey. She plays for the Philadelphia Jr Flyers team that travels everywhere and is ranked sixth in the country.  She also plays for her high school varsity team where she is loved and respected by her team and flies around her opponents like a little gnat on the ice."
Then she broke down what happened: "This past week Northampton was in the championship playoffs with their arch rivals Parkland High School. The level of unsportsmanlike conduct during these several championship games was mine boggling. I’ve toyed with whether or not to even put this out there for fear of upsetting my niece even further but she knows this was done out of sheer jealousy."
"The Parkland fans stooping to an all time low," she said. Then, she went on to list comments to the coaches of the team, the fans, and the parents. "WOW! What a classy group you are. From the parent yelling 'take her out' to the group chanting 'she has a penis' and '35 you’re a dude' to hanging this ridiculous sign."
Hopefully, all of the individuals who participated in this crude behavior get the message that this is completely unacceptable, especially coming from adults.
Alyssa has big aspirations and is clearly incredibly skilled at her sport. She belongs to a Philadelphia Jr. Flyers travel team. She also spends four days a week living in West Chester, Pennsylvania, where she attends the Philadelphia Hockey Academy. On the weekend, she returns to her home in East Allen Township all for the love of the game.
It doesn't seem like anything is going to stop this young woman. But the haters need to check themselves. At the very least, hopefully, they'll see the error of their ways.
