Barbara Lawlor, Nederland. It is always fun to go back to the rink where you were once a young, inexperienced skater to show former players that you are now among the nation's best. It doesn't happen often.

Colorado State University women’s hockey player Sarina Perret was all smiles on Sunday when she and Ram teammates showed up at the Nederland Skating Rink for an early morning practice and then a game against the Ned Rink Bantam/Midgets.

The Ned team is made up of burly, experienced players who went down 2-4 in the game, but no one sulked. It was a game for fun.

Sarina kind of grew up on the ice. She and her mom lived in Gilpin County and her dad was a coach with the Nederland Youth Hockey League. When she was seven years old she whirled around the pond near the Gilpin County Recreation Center, learning first to skate and then to skate with a hockey stick.

It was just down-home playing; now and then the Gilpin kids would go to Mud Lake and play against the Nederland kids.

"I mostly started playing hockey because that's what my brother did and I always wanted to do what he did. I didn't really like it at first. When Soren was playing, my dad would take me on the sidelines and we would do the easier drills."

The Ned Rink opened when Sarina was in fifth grade and she began taking hockey seriously, even joining a YMCA League in Boulder. Because Nederland Middle High School didn't have a girls' hockey team, she joined Monarch High School's team and then went on to club hockey with the Rocky Mountain Rink AA Hockey League. She had to try out to be on the team and when she was picked, got to travel.

She played with Monarch for the next four years except for when she had a pulmonary embolism and had to sit out for six months. "That was the hardest thing I ever had to do," she says. "I was on blood thinners and could only practice, no contact drills. Watching them play and not being able to help was hard."

When Sarina graduated from Nederland High School she knew she would be going to CSU because she had scouted out the schools that had women's hockey teams. She wanted to major in Health and Exercise Medicine in Sports.

The switch from a small-town high school to a large university was made easier because of her involvement with hockey.  The CSU Rams are ranked seventh nationally and Sarina says they will be going to Nationals in March in York, Pennsylvania.

Earning her way into an Honors program had allowed Sarina to attend small seminar classes rather than large lecture classes and she is loving going to school.

Besides studying, Sarina practices on the rink up to 15 hours a week. She says, "Hockey helped me adjust socially and my teammates are best friends for life. Getting on the ice is like a relief from everything else in my life—all the worries just disappear for those couple of hours."

After the game, there was a raffle for prizes, including a signed helmet and many NYHL shirts. The CSU hockey players signed free posters for everyone to take home as a souvenir from the great annual event.

Sarina enjoyed being back where it all began and seeing all of her younger sister's friends on the ice.