Building women’s hockey in a small town: The beginning

This goes to every sibling who would drop the gloves on each other for laughs.

Every family member who cheered in the stands.

Every coach who volunteered.

Every fist pump you gave your team.

Every referee.

Every penalty.

Every goal.

Every shot.

Every chant at the net.

And every handshake at the end of every game.

To every smile.

To every tear.

To every manmaker, pushup, stair running, circles, shots and PK plan.

To every loss.

And to every win.

Hockey is strong. Hockey is family. Hockey is a life of connection, love, and passion.

Here’s to remembering the great and continuing to build great team atmospheres for young women.

BUILDING WOMEN’S HOCKEY IN SMALL TOWN

I am currently in a town where female hockey does not exist, though in this weird pandemic time, I am in the middle of trying to make it happen. With so much uncertainty that I find myself every once in awhile closing my eyes and reminding myself of all the goosebump moments hockey has brought to my life and how I NEED to make this accessible for young girls who want to experience these moments as well—for my daughter.

I have had to come up with a compromise program that doesn’t sound overly intimidating to join. The cons outweigh the pros of joining a real league team right now. We live in a busy mountain town with so much distance to travel to away games. That’s okay, we have to start small. Just to bring girls on the ice. I have started to take the steps to build a 3 on 3 league with 1-2 ice times and fun dry land 1-2 times per week. Baby steps! And hopefully in a couple of years, these steps will grow.

I’m trying to stay positive to bring hockey to young women! I will continue to bring updates of my struggles, my wins and my journey on building this team. And hopefully it inspires someone else in a small town to do the same!

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