Hockey’s just more fun without the boys.
Thus was born the idea of creating a bunch of all-girls teams in the Cowichan Valley, local hockey dad Greg Clayton said.
“They don’t want to play against the boys in the physical hockey game,” Clayton said, adding that as soon as girls hit the Bantam League, where body checks come into play, the number of registered girls drops.
A group of local girls that gathered in Duncan last weekend for hockey practice agree.
“You get more confident,” Crystal Bell said, of playing alongside other girls.
“...Without the boys hogging the puck,” Amber Fournier added.
The girls all agreed that, although they also get along with their male hockey-playing friends, there’s a better sense of comfort and community within a girls-only team.
“One of the main reasons why girls aren’t playing is because they don’t have the same type of playing mentality as the boys,” Clayton said. “It’s still as exciting, for sure.”
Unfortunately, there aren’t enough girl hockey players in the Cowichan Lake area to make up girls-only teams, and there hasn’t been for about five years.
As such, they’ve opened up the region for the girls, with players welcome from various hockey associations in the Cowichan Valley.
A Peewee League team will be based in Lake Cowichan, thanks to a high number of girls in the two local Peewee teams.
A Bantam League team will be based in Duncan, and a Midget team will be half based in Lake Cowichan.
The teams will still be a part of the local area minor hockey associations, including the local Lake Cowichan District Minor Hockey Association. They’re just joining forces to ensure that there are enough players to create teams.
“If there are girls that want to play, they’d better register sooner than later,” Clayton said, adding that he’ll need the basic numbers in by May 4; well in advance of the 2011/2012 hockey season’s fall start.
In advance of the next hockey season, Clayton will also be seeking parents to help out. Particularly female parents, he said.
Although Clayton enjoys coaching and organizing the local girls’ teams, he suspects that more females helping out would create for a better bonding experience.
Sponsors will also be sought, in order to afford ice rental times for girls-only hockey practices, in advance of the next official minor hockey season. A couple of these hockey times have already served to drum up some early interest in the girls’ hockey teams.
For more on the new girls-only teams, go to the local hockey association’s website, www.lakecowichanminorhockey.com.