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Lillooet minor hockey’s new junior girls program is a major step forward for girls hockey at all levels, says the division’s coach, Paul Hangle.
According to Hangle, who is both the junior girls coach and vice-president of the Lillooet District Minor Hockey Association, the senior girls division has long been hard pressed to find players.
“We’ve always had trouble because it doesn’t start until they’re 13 years old.”
As a result, any girls interested in playing hockey who were younger than 13 could only do so if they joined one of the other divisions, made up almost entirely of boys.
But, Hangle says, the girls who wanted to play hockey were not always as eager to join a mixed team.
“They didn’t want to play on the boys team.”
Hangle decided the best way to beef up the senior girls was to start at the bottom.
He said, “My idea was to get a strong junior girls program to feed the senior girls program.”
Lillooet minor hockey created the junior girls division, for girls between the ages of six and 12, this season, with Hangle at the helm.
Sixteen players, including Hangle’s daughter, Colby, from six to 11 years old signed up for the inaugural season.
Hangle said, “It’s a total success, ‘cause we were hoping for 10 players.”
Although he has been involved for years with local minor hockey and coached boys for almost a decade, Hangle says, “This is the first year I’ve coached girls.”
Asked how working with this group is different from his past experiences, he says, “They’re always smiling.
“I don’t know if it’s just this group but they all smile all the time and they always help each other out.”
He added that the players have made fast friends despite age differences. “They just seem to socialize better.”
In the wake of the new program’s success, Hangle is looking to the future.
He expects the junior girls division, and ultimately the senior girls division, to grow as word of mouth spreads.
“There are more girls who are talking about playing. I hear them at school,” says Hangle, who teaches at George Murray elementary.
“We have so many young players, it’ll continue for sure.”
He adds that more adults are getting involved with local minor hockey, like Nancy Humber, who helps Hangle out with his coaching duties.
“She was never involved with minor hockey before,” he says, but new volunteers like her will make sure new players are not at a loss for coaching and other support.
Hangle says he would like someday to carve out a third, intermediate, girls division, as the demand for female hockey programs grows.
“That’s my long-term plan…to have three full-time girls teams, is my goal.”
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This is sure a celebration. The coaches might check if their debit cards have still some balances on it, they might have the need to spend it later. Girl teams must not be belittled because they have so much will power to win and stand on it. We will going to be seeing more and more of them on the news.
Posted on February 2, 2010 @ 9:26 pm PST | Report post to Editor | 3197206