Female hockey is the fastest growing sport in the world and the South Okanagan is a leader in promoting and getting young girls on the ice. Five years ago, a handful of parents had a vision to see their daughters play hockey, this country’s most popular sport. That is when the Ice Dragons Female Hockey Club was formed in Penticton, under the umbrella of the Penticton Minor Hockey Association (PMHA), a program which has seen its number rise every year since then.
Penticton, B.C. — Feeding from Canada’s two Gold medals at the Sochi Winter Olympics, PMHA, led by Barb Main, held a Try Female Hockey ice session on Thursday and judging from the number of young ladies on the ice, it was a huge success. No less than 45 young girls, most of them born between 2006 to 2009, took the ice at Memorial Arena and were introduced, in full equipment, to the coolest game on earth. With a team of coaches and volunteers, Alex Gartner set-up stations for all skills levels and abilities. Judging by the smiles on and off the ice, the girls loved their experience.
“I have three daughters in the Ice Dragons’ program and they get more out of female hockey socially, physically and developmentally than with any other activities and that, while having a lot more fun”, explains Barb Main. “I strongly feel that every girl should have this opportunity.”
Present in the attendance was former President of the Okanagan Mainland Hockey Association (OMAHA) and current PMHA Referee in Chief Larry Jeeves, who has been a big supporter of growing the female participation in the entire region. Jeeves, who resides in Penticton, has seen the growth of the Ice Dragons program and recognized the need for more support towards such programs in every community within the Okanagan Mainland. Jeeves was very pleased to see the number of young female players on the ice that night.
“A couple of years ago, while I was President, I set a goal for OMAHA to double the numbers of female registrations within two years. While I don’t have the exact numbers, I’m guessing that they are not far from that goal”, said Jeeves.
This past season, there were female hockey leagues in OMAHA at every level from Peewee to Midget. This included recreational leagues at each of those levels and representative leagues at the Bantam and Midget level with the hope of adding a representative league in the near future.
For the first time in the short Ice Dragons’ history, the program had a representative team which will be back again next year, a team coached by Penticton Panthers’ alumni Shawn Carter.
Also present at the ice session was Okanagan Hockey School / Academy President Andy Oakes, whose daughter was giving the game a try. The Academy introduced a Midget Female AAA team to its program back in 2011, a team coached by Rebecca Russell, who was an assistant-coach for Canada’s women national under-18 team and Head Coach of Team BC Female U-18. Her assistant-coach at the Academy is two-times Olympic Gold medalist Gina Kingsbury. Both have been extremely supportive of the Ice Dragons’ program ever since coming to the Okanagan.
“Hockey Canada recognizes the potential of women’s hockey and needed help developing young players. The higher the number of participants, the stronger our national program will be”, says Oakes about justifying the addition of a Female program to the Academy. “The demand by Universities for Canadian female hockey players is very big and we have a 100% placement rate. Through hockey, young women not only play a healthy sport, but they lean important values for all aspects of life. Through hockey, we help develop young men and women.”
While success is not judged by wins at the minor hockey level, the Ice Dragons Female Hockey Club has managed to get recognition across B.C. in its short history. They clinched the tournament banner in the Peewee C2 division at the prestigious Richmond Ravens’ tournament two years in a row and this past season, the Peewee and Midget girls finished first in their respective division.
The Ice Dragons will hold one more free ice session to Try Female Hockey on Wednesday April 2 at 6:15 p.m. at the OHS rink. For more information, please contact Barb Main at bbmain@shaw.ca or visit the Ice Dragons Hockey Club web site at http://www.icedragonshc.wordpress.com/, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/PentictonFemaleHockey and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/IceDragons_HC
Ice Dragons Female Hockey Club 