I was born in Quezon City, Philippines, on July 20, 1969, and immigrated to Chicago, Illinois, at the age of three. My parents settled here the year before, and I arrived just as former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law. We lived in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago until my parents bought a house in Roselle, Illinois, where we moved in 1977.

In the city, I went to Catholic school, but my parents enrolled me in the public school system when we moved to the suburbs; the nearby Catholic school didn’t bus students at the time. I graduated from high school as a music major at the Chicago Academy for the Arts, to which I rode the commuter train from the suburbs. The Academy didn’t bus students, either.

I took a year off before going to college to continue private lessons in percussion, which was my primary instrument (piano was secondary). In March 1988, I auditioned and won a scholarship to the University of Houston, where, after two semesters, I no longer wanted to study. I wanted to play, which I did for a number of local bands after moving back to Chicago. I lay music aside in 1994, when after some discussion with Veruca Salt to replace the drummer for the second leg of their tour with Hole, their management advised that a roster change early in their career could be damaging.

At the time I wouldn’t have agreed, but staying in Chicago and continuing my job as a secretary was the best situation for me. Earlier that year I had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and the instability of constant travel would have hindered my treatment. I still struggle with what I call my “bipolarness,” but I have an excellent support system.

In the past ten years I have shifted my focus from music to writing, and put myself through school. In 1999 I earned a BA in English from DePaul University, and the MFA in Creative Writing in 2002 from THE Ohio State University. I no longer want to be a rock star. Now I want to be a hockey star! :d

–Barb Natividad, 2004

©2004-2007 by Barb Natividad

I have my teammate, #8 Katie “Schweigs” (my personal Boba Fett, puck hunting, defense(wo)man), to thank for this. Be sure to listen to the appropriate theme music as you read my hockey bio!

Darth Goalie, Dark Lord of the Tigers, was the scourge of other women’s hockey teams, a mistress of the dark side of the Ice, and one of the Coach’s most trusted servants. She wasn’t always a fearsome enforcer-of-the-pipes, however.

She began life as Barb Natividad, a young punk from Chicago skilled as a right winger and strong on the Ice. Barb’s very origins are mysterious. Her mother revealed that there was no biological father (or so she probably wishes ). Inexplicably, she became pregnant with the Ice-prodigy and carried her to term. Some among the Tigers believed this to be part of an ancient prophecy of a Chosen One, willed into life by the midi-chlorians, who would bring balance to an increasingly darkening Ice. There was another possibility, though. The goaltender could have been the creation of sinister Goaltending manipulations, as other Dark Lords of the Net conspired to bring about the perfect apprentice by coaxing life from lifelessness.

Once discovered by a maverick Tiger recruiter, Barb was taken before the Tigers to be trained. There was some controversy on the subject — despite the recuiter’s adamant assurances that Natividad was the one spoken of in the prophecy, the Tigers were hesitant to allow her training at the age of 37.

…Barb was renamed Darth Goalie. The Orange Tigers conspiracy, which had been festering in the shadows of the WCHL for 11 years, sprang into action. The Coach elevated himself to the position of Emperor, and dispatched Darth Goalie as his ultimate enforcer. With her unparalleled Ice abilities, Darth Goalie blocked the slapshots, backhands, and coasting shots on net. She led her elite Orange Tiger trooper forces through the polished rinks of metro Chicago, cutting a swath of death and destruction through the remaining women’s hockey teams in Illinois.

Imperial March composed by John Williams
the rest is copyrighted by Lucasfilm, otherwise parodied by Orange Tigers defensewoman Katie “Schweigs” Schweighofer, my personal Boba Fett