Girls hockey is seeing a resurgence in Yellowknife.
Need proof? See what happened this past Saturday at the Multiplex.
World Girls Hockey Weekend is organized annually by the International Ice Hockey Federation and by extension, Hockey Canada gets involved in the proceedings. Canada's contribution to the weekend is the Girls Long Game, where female hockey players play hockey at least every hour for a full day.
The Yk Minor Hockey Association did its part on Saturday at the Multiplex with five-dozen girls and women hitting the ice for the city's version of the long game. There were three hours in total as the 8 and Under group, junior girls (the DT Electric Impact), senior girls (Scotiabank Wolfpack) and the Yk Women's Hockey League got in on the action.
Liz West, the association's director of female programming, said the 8 and Under group played a scrimmage amongst themselves on a smaller surface while the older girls all played a three-period game.
“The Impact girls played against the Expedite North Explorers, one of the atom teams and the senior girls played the women's league,” she said. “We wanted to include as many females as we could.”
The Impact ended up getting the better of the Explorers, something West said was good to see because not only was it a fun game, it was also a chance to see where the girls stand in advance of a big event coming up next month.
“These girls are going to Wickfest in Calgary and we wanted to see how they were coming along,” she said.
In addition to the Impact, the Wolfpack are also heading down along with a team from the 8 and Under group, she added.
This year's group of women was one of the largest in recent years and considerably bigger than last year's weekend, where just the 8 and Under and junior girls hit the ice, said West.
“Our numbers dropped off in recent years but we're starting to grow,” she said. “We need to keep the grassroots growing and it's important to keep the momentum going. We have girls who just come out to play with the girls but we have some who play both house league and with the girls.”
For example, seven girls are playing in both the peewee division and with the junior girls, said West.
“I'm optimistic about the program,” she added. “We did a lot of our fundraising in the off-season so we don't have to worry about that. We can focus on the hockey.”
The sizable amount of girls playing is also music to the ears of Stu Impett, the association's director of skills and training.
Impett, who also coaches in the 8 and Under division, said it's a fun division to work with.
“They're great listeners and they all try so hard every practice,” he said. “We want to have as many kids and girls playing as we can because we want to sustain and maintain them as they go through the system. Girls hockey is getting bigger in Yellowknife and I hope it goes higher from here.”