THE FLYING V’S
By Denise Scott
When Ashburn’s first all-female ice hockey team, The Flying V’s, takes to the ice, prepare for the unexpected. The team’s inaugural season at Ashburn Ice House has so far included bagpipes, homemade bread and duck calls.
The team’s creator and captain, Katie Eibner, works in the construction industry and lives in Belmont Greene with her husband and three young children. She was searching for a hobby outside the house about a year ago when she decided to attend a Learn to Play hockey clinic at the Ice House, where her husband had joined a team.
“I went to Learn to Play and was the only woman, which I’m very used to. It’s fine,” she said, referring to her experience at construction sites. “And I just loved it. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. I’m a former athlete, and this sport involves not only being good at ice skating, which is its own sport, but playing actual hockey.”
Eibner then convinced some friends to join her “and we started joking that we would start our own team of all women. And it just kept growing. I think we were at about six, and my joke started to be something that I just realized I had to do.”
Although all-women teams exist closer to Washington, only two women were playing on the otherwise all-male teams at the Ice House. And there had never been an all-women team at the facility.
“I was just of the opinion that if you want a space to exist, sometimes you have to be the one to build it,” Eibner said.
Lori Carmack is one of Eibner’s original recruits and plays defense for the Flying V’s. She works for the Department of Defense and also lives in Belmont Greene with her family. Her only prior exposure to the rink was when she brought her kids to open skate.
“Learning to play hockey is pretty intimidating,” she said. “But I eventually was like, ‘OK, I’ll try it.’ I’ve always been an athlete, and so I was pretty sure I could figure it out.”
However, Carmack wasn’t sure that Eibner could garner enough interest to create an all-women team, no matter how great of an idea it was. Eibner spent many hours over three months joining Facebook groups and asking around to recruit enough players to fill the roster.
“I did not realize how much of an undertaking it would be, but we ended up finally getting the numbers,” Eibner said.
The team now has 16 full-time players and about six substitutes. Over half of The Flying V’s are from Ashburn, and the rest drive in from places like Fredericksburg and Maryland. They are a diverse group of women ranging from their early 20s to their early 60s. Some have been playing since the ’90s. Others are newbies. Most have worked in male-dominated industries.
“We have former service members. We have a Marine. We have people that work for the Bureau, a former bodybuilder. We have a scientist,” Eibner said. “I joke that at some point we’ll have an astronaut. We just have some really cool people that have done all the jobs in the spaces that weren’t always the most welcoming to women.”
Eibner’s passion about The Flying V’s being a positive influence for women to pursue their interests is obvious to those around her.
“She definitely spearheaded the whole thing,” Carmack said. “She’s really amazing.”
Eibner said the team’s name has an “inappropriate” explanation as well as this G-rated version: “It’s a reference to the formation from ‘The Mighty Ducks’ movies that most of our team grew up watching. My kids watch them now. You know, they get in the V formation.”
This also explains that duck calls that are sounded to celebrate every goal made by The Flying V’s.
Eibner said she plays wing “because that’s where I can do the least damage.” But although she may not yet be a star player, her out-of-the-box thinking has game.
“I like to make things weird,” she said, recalling bringing in a bagpipe player to perform during the team’s warmup the week of St. Patrick’s Day.
“Last game, I said that if anybody [on my team] scored a goal, I would bake them a loaf of bread,” Eibner said. “So I ended up having to bring six loaves of bread.”
The Flying V’s inaugural season in the Ice House’s D2 League – the lowest-level “Beer League” – kicked off in March, playing against teams made of amateur men living out their hockey dreams. It was a bumpy start.
“Our first game was a hot mess. We played a team that is called the Night Owls, and they, within I’m going to guess 10 minutes, had five goals on us,” Eibner said. “I swear I saw my life flash before my eyes and felt awful that I had dragged women into doing this with me.”
But the Flying V’s, many of whom just met each other that night, soon found their footing and avoided a shutout. The game ended 6-1. Their second battle was against reigning league champions Thundercats, who won 3-0.
“Our third game, we were 3-3 with a team called Ice Storm until the very last few minutes,” Eibner said. “Then they got three very quick goals on us. I was thrilled to be even with them for most of the game.”
Then came their back-to-back wins: 6-0 against the Cluster Pucks and a nail-biter 5-4 against the Baconators, which is made up of military and police officers. Although the Flying V’s are there to have fun, the games are no joke. An experienced player recently suffered the team’s first injury – a broken foot from getting hit by a slapshot.
“There’s technically no checking, but we’re a very physical team,” Eibner said. “I have a friend on the Cluster Pucks who told us that we played them more physically than any other team they had ever played. … We’re competitive. We’re loud. We don’t apologize for taking up space on the ice. But, you know, we bring personality and energy.”
The team wasn’t sure what to expect from their male counterparts when the season began, but they had a warm welcome from the Thundercats, who left a 12-pack of beer in their locker room with a “Welcome to the D League” note.
“I think they’re happy to have us out there,” Carmack said.
Because hockey is an expensive sport, Eibner’s goal for next season is to make it more accessible. She didn’t have to go far to find The Flying V’s first sponsor, recruiter – and self-proclaimed No. 1 fan – in Sid Maharjan, owner of the Slice Theory restaurant and bar next to the rink.
“Anytime they’re playing, I’m not working,” he said. “The bar is full [and] I’m just like, ‘Guys, I’ll be right back. My team’s playing. I need to support them.’ It is so exciting to watch this women’s team.”
Maharjan said many of the league’s veteran male hockey players, along with referees, often stick around after their games to watch the Flying V’s play later in the evening.
“They are so calculated and so team spirited,” he said. “They go for it, and as long as that tenacity is there, people enjoy it. I’m a big supporter of underdogs. And I hope they get as big as they can.”
CHEER ON THE FLYING V’S
If you’d like to attend a Flying V’s hockey match, here is the schedule for the remainder of the season (subject to change). All matches are at the Ashburn Ice House.
You can also follow the team’s Instagram and TikTok accounts at: @flyingvshockey
May 31 at 11 p.m. vs. Ice Storm
Jun. 7 at 9:50 p.m. vs. the Cluster Pucks
Jun. 14 at 9:40 p.m. vs. the Baconators
Jun. 21 at 11 p.m. vs. the Terminators
Jun. 28 at 9:40 p.m. vs. Orr LoCo
Jul. 5 at 9:40 p.m. vs. Lechuga Caliente
Jul. 19 at 7:10 p.m. vs. Bubba’s Bail Bonds
Jul. 23 at 9 p.m. vs. Lechuga Caliente
Jul. 26 at 11 p.m. vs. the Terminators
Aug. 2 at 9:50 p.m. vs. the Night Owls