Riding the wave of excitement that developed over women’s hockey at the Sochi Olympics, Penticton Minor Hockey Association is looking to attract more female players.
“I think the timing was great,” agreed Barb Main, a PMHA volunteer. “I heard girls talk about the Olympics in the change room and that they had watched. For sure the numbers we have seen has a little bit to do with that.”
On Wednesday the Penticton Ice Dragons invited girls out for their second try-it-free session. After an overwhelming response to their first event in March, they decided to break up the ice time into age groups. The next one happens April 9 at 6:45 p.m. at the OHS training rink for the 2003 to 2006 age group.
“The most common age is around seven years old, but today the youngest we have is four. We want to get as many numbers a
s we can so we can get teams together. Once the girls have a team they just have so much fun and then they draw their friends in,” said Main. “Girls’ hockey is one of the fastest growing sports in North America and we really want to help encourage that growth within our association.”
According to the PMHA, it is just a matter of spreading the word. Some girls simply did not know that playing with their peers was an option. Penticton girls hockey teams had a successful season this year and that has also generated some interest in new registrants. There were about 75 girls registered with the PMHA this year, with 45 players on female teams. The female peewee and midget girls teams won their league in the Thompson/Okanagan and the bantam girls entered a rep league.
“We want kids to keep coming in at the bottom end and stay in the program right through to midget. The programs have been really well run and we have had great coaches and volunteers,” said John Cote, PMHA female director. “This was the first year we had three all-female teams that played in all-female leagues and it was great for their development.”
Cote said the game of hockey tends to be more social with females and being able to play on a female-only team opens opportunities to learning the game better because they aren’t intimidated by the boys and they might get more time with the puck.
“It is a huge difference for some of these players to play just against girls. They get to develop a hockey dressing room atmosphere and friends where if they play with the boys they might not be able to have that social aspect,” said Cote.
Girls can also transfer to the Penticton Minor Hockey Association to play with an all-female team if their home association doesn’t have one. Girls came from Osoyoos and Keremeos this past season to play with PMHA female teams. Girls can also dual -roster to play on both female and male teams.
For more information on the try-it-free clinics contact Barb Main at bbmain@shaw.ca. There is no cost to get on the ice and the minimum equipment required is a helmet, skates, stick and gloves. Full gear is recommended.
Registration for Penticton Minor Hockey Association opens on May 1 until June 30. For more information visit www.pentictonminorhockey.com. Some grants are available for financial aid through www.kidsportcanada.ca.
