"It's awesome that there's a full weekend celebrating girls' hockey," Parker said. "I'm excited about (the clinic) because it provides an environment that is very inclusive and welcoming for those that maybe don't think that they potentially belong in this sport, or have never even thought that this sport can be for them.
"I think that's something that is so exciting because that's how you grow it. It's a little girl that comes into the rink that never thought she'd be putting on hockey skates with a stick in her hand and trying the game. The next thing you know, she wants to learn how to skate and she wants to learn how to play hockey and she's going to be your next Olympian that comes out of the Seattle area."
The goal is to provide the girls in attendance access to the game and role models within it. The volunteer staff includes Coachella Valley Firebirds assistant coach, Jess Campbell. Also expected to participate is Kraken team employee Allison Bickford who found her passion for the game as an adult and now is an active participant in local adult leagues. Another Kraken employee who will be on the ice is Naomi Woolfenden who hails from Mill Creek and played with Parker at the elite Gilmour Academy in northeastern Ohio.
This was important to Parker because she believes that seeing women take different paths to hockey and finding different paths toward success in the sport matters. When asked to describe the growth of the women's game in the Pacific Northwest, Parker starts with the facts: More than 50-percent of the participants in KCI's Learn to Skate programs last year identified as female. There are junior girls' teams at 8U and 10U levels out of KCI. But it's the human stories that really drive the mission home.
Parker remembers "Lily," a participant in KCI's
Jr. Squid program
geared for skaters between the ages of 6-9. On the first day of on-ice work, Lily was the only girl in the group. As she came up the ice, stick in hand, she was in tears.
"We went up to her and asked, 'are you okay?'" Parker said. "She said yes, (but, later) her parents said 'she didn't realize she'd be the only girl.' That was one of the opportunities that is why I came back where I can be a model for little girls and little boys."
Parker reached out to some of her former players who sent Lily notes of encouragement and told her that they'd keep watching her. Six months later, there were 10 girls in the Jr. Squid program and now Parker estimates there are 15-20.
"We started with one girl, Lily," Parker said. "And now Lily's got a bunch of friends that she gets to play hockey with."
And that is why, in addition to this weekend's activities Parker is so excited about the upcoming
USA versus Canada women's hockey game
coming to Climate Pledge Arena on Nov. 20 as part of the 2022-23 Rivalry Series. Parker does know many of the players involved either because she played with them or coached them when she moved behind the bench.
But more importantly, girls and boys get to see some of the top athletes faceoff against one another, the US national team will hold training camp at KCI Nov. 9-11. There will also be a public practice and Elite Skills Girls Clinic presented by Starbucks.
"(These two teams represent) the pinnacle of women's hockey right now," Parker said. "To be able to have athletes of that caliber in your rink and in your city is something that I don't think a lot of people will recognize how special that is until they actually see them perform on ice and see how good they are at their craft. The game is elegant. It's beautiful, and it's awesome."
