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NORWICH – She was four years old when she first stepped onto the ice with a hockey stick in her hands. Now, Madison Lawrence can be found as the only girl as a member of the Utica Jr. Comets.

Lawrence’s success in the youth hockey world hasn’t come without a price. Even at the young level, playing hockey is a large obligation. Lawrence has made sacrifices just to play the great sport of ice hockey, and to make her dream of becoming a professional hockey player come true.

Most kids her age are having fun at slumber parties on the weekends. Most families are sitting down to have dinner together every night, but not the Lawrence’s.

Their nights and weekends are for practice and games.

During the winter season, Lawrence’s team is the Utica Jr. Comets Elite. Traveling over an hour one way, three times a week for practices, hockey has been an extensive commitment not only by Lawrence but by her family as well.

On top of her practice three times a week, Lawrence takes part in weekly dry land training and power skating sessions outside of her normal practices, along with skills and drills she works on at home in a room she dedicates hockey training to. “It’s a huge commitment for her,” said her father, Jason Lawrence. “That’s on top of her normal schoolwork.”