THUNDER BAY – At some point in the very near future, Reese Keating may have a pretty tough decision to make – golf or hockey.
The 17-year-old, who spent last season between the pipes at Minnesota’s Shattuck-St. Mary’s, a school that’s produced the likes of Sidney Crosby, Nathan McKinnon and American Olympian Amanda Kessel, most recently finished sixth at the Manitoba Junior Girls Golf Championship.
Her three-day, 246 total earned her a spot at the Canadian Junior Girls Championship, being staged from July 25 to July 29 at the Marshes Golf Club in Ottawa.
Following in the golfing footsteps of her father, Walter Keating Jr., a former Canadian Tour pro, the teenager says she’s not ready to make a decision which sport she’d like to play full-time, not completely convinced she can’t play both at the NCAA level.
With dreams of playing on the LPGA Tour and making the Canadian women’s Olympic hockey team, Reese tries not to look too far ahead.
In this particular moment, her efforts are focused on golf and the chance to prove her game at the national stage.
The Thunder Bay teen said she had no expectations heading into the provincial event.
“I was pretty nervous, but none of them really knew who I was, so I didn’t really feel like I had to show anyone anything. I just went out there and played, and played better than I expected to,” Keating said of her performance in Manitoba last week.
She had no idea it would lead to a spot at nationals.
“At first I was shocked, and then I was very nervous, but I’m very excited to get the opportunity.”
Keating said she she’s the two sports, both of which she played at school, to be complimentary.
“I feel like since I’m a goalie, it definitely is the same mindset in certain ways,” she said.
Her father, Walter, said he and his wife, Chantal, have been talking to Division 1 schools about both sports and hope to have offers in place by November.
“She’d like to do both,” Walter said.
“Yeah,” agreed Reese, a graduate of the Thunder Bay Queens program and a straight A student in the classroom.
“It would be a lot, but I would prefer to do both than just pick one.”
Walter said because of her grades, she’s broadened her opportunities at the collegiate level.
“We’ve had some Ivy League schools interested in her too because of her grades. That plays a big part.”
While many teens are content with one sport, hanging with friends or playing video games, Reese said she likes being busy all the time.
“For me it’s summer, golf, winter, hockey,” she said. “Then I mix in a little bit of both here and there.”
It’s lots of training, her father said.
“She’s working with Al MacKenzie, who trained Haley Irwin. And what’s Shattuck’s done is teach them how to be pros. She’s up at 6, on the ice at 6:30, off the ice at 8, in school by 8:45 until 3, then to the golf course, back for goalie skate, than eat then study until 10:30 or 11 and do it again. And they travel most every weekend,” he said.
Could she be a dual-sport star, like Deion Sanders or Bo Jackson?
Anything’s possible, Reese said.
“I’m really excited to try to do both,” she said.
