Penelope Elsberry, a young girl from Everett, liked to watch hockey and her friends play the game, too. But she’d not been able to give it a go herself. Until last Saturday.
As part of the third annual celebration of USA Hockey’s Girls Hockey Weekend, Kraken Community Iceplex (KCI) hosted a Girls’ Try Hockey for Free event. For one hour, 36 participants learned not just the basics of putting on skates and how to get comfortable on the ice – even how to get up when they fall – they also moved through five areas on the ice to learn different skills. By the end of the session, every girl had a hockey stick in their hand and knew how to hit a puck.
KCI’s Katelyn Parker, who hails from Bellingham, was the organizer and on-ice lead for the event.
“(Helping women make strides in hockey) is something that we're really mindful of,” Parker said. “How we can continue to support and build to provide unique opportunities for girls wishing to try the sport and stay involved.”
“This weekend is about allowing someone who never thought of the sport to have that first step through the doorway. And maybe we get ten more girls that are interested in playing hockey or we get 20 or maybe more girls become fans (of the game), so I'm excited about it. I think the landscape is changing in a positive way and some big strides are happening; it's something that we're really happy and proud to be doing.”
Parker wanted to be sure that everything that could be done was to ensure that the young girls felt as comfortable as possible learning about hockey. All of the coaches were women – not because men didn’t want to be part of the event, but because Parker wanted the participants to see role models that look like them and are skating with them and are able to do all the things that are being taught.
Puyallup’s Victoria Neufer wants to try hockey “so bad!” after being part of the Learn to Play session and when asked what it was like to see other girls playing the game she said, “It was cool - and the three girls (coaches) were nice and helped me get up (if I fell).”
Parker says this is just one event, but it’s also another building block in growing women’s participation in the game. To date, the year-over-year investment by KCI in Girls Hockey Weekend has translated to tangible results in on-ice participation.
The Jr Kraken program started with two girls teams – one at the 8U (players are under the age of eight) and one at the 10U (players are under the age of 10) levels.
Today, there are seven girls' teams in the program: two for 8U players, three for 10U athletes, and two for players 12 and under (12U). Parker says that translates to approximately 82 girls who are playing hockey in the Jr Kraken system. If you add in other girls who are participating in grassroots programming and playing on co-ed teams, the total is probably closer to 95. “It’s growing, it’s really cool.”
And beyond just the numbers, Parker – who played Division I hockey at Colgate and has served as a scout for Team USA’s U18 program, is hopeful that the girls who get involved in hockey in any way and at any level find the benefits that can’t be measured but are so meaningful beyond what happens on the ice.
“Sports, in general, are life-changing,” Parker said. They teach you so much about character - what it's like to be a team player; how to handle adversity; and how to handle winning, losing, and everything that comes in between. You learn what true hard work looks like. But then also, there are the friendships that go into it too.
Hockey is a beautiful game. We're trying to find spaces that we can continuously offer opportunities for young girls to put a hockey stick in their hand to share the joy.”
