Tips for Girls Hockey

Hockey has long been thought of as a male or, at least, male-dominated sport. However, that is slowly changing as more and more girls and women are getting involved in the sport and making their way onto the ice.   

Encourage Interest

If your team doesn’t have female players, try and encourage girls you know to sign up or at least give the sport a try. After all, everyone deserves to experience the joy of hockey.

To garner interest, you can try hosting a special “try it out” day specifically for girls. Really, anything you can do to attract female players is a great way to build the sport and its diversity.

Build Strong Connections

Once you do get a few female players, work to build strong connections between them, especially if the team remains mostly male, which is likely.

Female players need support from other girls on the team. They need to feel like they are not alone. For this reason, building and fostering connections is key.

Keep Your Expectations Consistent

Something else to be careful of is that the girls on the team get the same treatment as the male players. Often, coaches will intentionally and unintentionally treat girl players different.

Sometimes, they go easy on them in terms of criticisms and workouts. Other times, they take the opposite approach and are overly hard on the girls.

Really, though, girl players should be treated exactly the same, in every way, as male players. Coaches and everyone else who comes into contact with female players need to remember this and actively work toward equal treatment.

The face of hockey is changing. Nowadays, girls are welcome to be involved in it, and more and more are stepping up. To do your part in making progress happen, just follow these tips.

Common Myths about Girl's Hockey

There are many common myths and misconceptions about girls’hockey. However, no matter what you may have heard, girls do have a real presence in this sport, and it’s time to stop believing the lies!

Girls Don’t Get Discovered

One myth that’s thrown around all too often is that girl players don’t have a good chance of getting discovered if they play on girl teams. Many people have believed this lie to the point that they started playing on mixed or boy teams to try and improve their chances of discovery.   

However, players can and do get discovered on female teams. By all means, athletes should play where they feel most comfortable, but there’s no need to make an unwanted switch to try and increase the chances of getting discovered.

Girls Need to Play with Boys to Truly Progress

Another common myth is that girls’ hockey teams aren’t as good as boys’ teams and that girls won’t learn and grow as well on girl teams. This isn’t true at all.

In fact, female hockey players often do better on female teams where they can work with others with the same challenges and who are developing at the same pace. Girls actually develop many skills earlier than boys, thus making it so that mixed or male teams often don’t suit girls’ skill as well as they should.

Again, all players should play where they like and feel the most comfortable, but know that being on a female team is not going to hold you back.

Hockey Will Never Fully Accept Girls

Perhaps the worst myth of all is that hockey will never truly come around to embrace and celebrate young girls the same way it does boys.

Thankfully, that’s far from the truth. Hockey has come a long way in recent years, and girls are being more welcomed into the sport and getting more and more opportunities than ever before.

So with that said, let’s hear it for the ladies!

Friends of Womens Hockey Team Starts Strong

The USA Hockey Foundation recently announced the launch of a new organization: The USA Hockey Friends of Women’s Hockey Fund. The goal of the organization is to raise $500,000 each year to help support the United States Women’s National team and to further and promote women in the sport. The good news is that, so far, the organization is doing great, and it’s looking like women are going to have more opportunities to advance in the sport.   

In the brief time since the organization and fund were launched, nearly $100,000 has been devoted to the effort. This includes donations from several notable people in the hockey world, including John and Johanna Boynton, Paul George, and Nick Lopardo, among others, some of whom are Foundation Board members.

Pat Kelleher, the executive director of USA Hockey, is excited about the funds pouring in and is encouraging everyone with an interest in the cause to donate whatever they can, saying that “every bit helps.”

Those who believe that women have a place in hockey and who want to further that initiative are encouraged to make contributions in any amount they can. Contributions can be made on the USA Hockey Foundation’s official website or by contacting the organization directly.

Who Says Girls Don't Play Hockey!

If you’re like most people, when you think of hockey, you probably think of it as a “boys’ sport.” In truth, however, hockey is actually becoming more and more popular among young girls, and rightfully so! After all, it has just as many benefits for them as it does for the boys.  

It shouldn’t really come as a surprise to anyone that more and more girls are participating in youth hockey. After all, more of everyone is participating in the sport. The sport used to, for example, only be popular in the north, but it has slowly merged to the south as well.

As hockey and its reach grows, it’s not surprising that it would appeal to more young girls. Data supports this trend too. Since 1990, the National Hockey League has reported seeing an increase in female participation of about 74,000 in Canada. Plus, female hockey clubs have grown by about 50,500 in the United States.

While not everyone may be happy about having to share the ice with females, they have every right to play hockey, and they benefit from it in big ways too. Many girls are drawn to the ice because of the chances for increased physical fitness, the ability to grow in confidence, the chance to improve leadership skills, and so much more.

Girls who are interested in entering into the world of hockey are encouraged to sign for a local hockey camp or to take lessons from a private coach. Through these methods, they can quickly discover what their skill level is and find a team that is suitable for them and where they are.

So, like it or not, it’s time for the boys to move over and make a little room on the ice for the ladies!

Girls Hockey and Body Contact

If you have a daughter who plays hockey, then you probably already know that body checking is illegal in hockey for both girls and women. Just because it’s “illegal,” however, doesn’t mean that there isn’t some body contact when girls play hockey.   

Because contact does exist in girls’ hockey, it is important for girls to learn good body contact skills and how to use these skills when they’re out on the ice.

When girls practice good body contact skills, not only will they become better, more skilled players, bu they’ll also stay safer out on the ice. They won’t be encountering contact that they don’t know how to handle.

Of course, the key is to make sure that your child’s coach actually is focusing on body contact during practice; many girls’ coaches ignore this very important aspect of the game. If you can’t get your child’s coach to appropriately focus on this skill, then consider having your child attend a body contact clinic or a special session where she can learn this skill and thus be able to better handle herself (and the competition!) on the ice.

The truth is, though, there’s only so much you can do to really teach the valuable skills associated with body contact through a couple of specialized sessions, so you really want to request that your coach teach this skill or, else, find a coach that does. Learning proper body contact helps with so many aspects of the game, including helping players to manage themselves in tight spaces, which is essential for successfully handling puck battles and other things that come up on the ice.

With time and practice both on and off the ice, female players can become comfortable with and good at body contact, but that will never happen if they don’t get exposed to it, so don’t overlook this important skill!

Hey Girl Hockey Players: Say No to Chicken Wings

There’s a problem in girls’ hockey these days, and it has to do with how they handle their sticks! While boys are guilty too, this happens more frequently with girls- this holding of their sticks in such a way that they can’t shoot or pass properly.   

What we’re talking about is a mishandling position that’s so common it has its own name: the “chicken wing.” A player is using a “chicken wing” hold if she has her top hand tucked near her hip, thus pushing out her elbow into an uncomfortable and ineffective “chicken wing.”

When a player is holding the stick in this way, she’s going to be choppy and inaccurate in all her movements, and she won’t be able to move the stick out or around as widely as necessary. The chicken wing players will lack follow through and tend to slap passes, and it’s not because they’re bad players- it’s because they’re bad stickholders!

To fix it, encourage players to move their top hand away from their body, holding the stick downward and away. They’ll be able to move their stick much more easily, roll their wrist as needed, and they’ll be more comfortable and precise during game play.

While this new position may take some getting used to, it’s the proper one, and your players will immediately see how much better it feels and how much better they’re able to play as a result. Start working on it now, and before you know it, you should see a big difference. Your players will thank you...and they won’t look like chickens!

Should Hockey Training Be Based on Gender?

Hockey is a physically demanding sport, even and perhaps especially for young players And, while hockey was once thought of as a “boy sport,” it is now becoming popular among girls and young women as well. This recent surge in feminine popularity has left many coaches and trainers wondering whether or not they should vary the training and exercise routines they require based on gender. The answer is a big no! The goal should always be to find a suitable workout, training, and diet program that works for the individual players regardless of sex.

With that said, however, there do tend to be some key differences between male and female athletes. Female athletes, for example, are typically more flexible and have better mobility, so they don’t

usually need as much training and work in these areas.

On the flip side, females are typically more prone to ACL injuries so extra care should be taken to avoid these painful injuries. Gentler leg exercises are usually recommended for women.

As you can see, with only a couple of exceptions, training really shouldn’t vary that much based on the player’s gender. The important thing is for coaches to teach proper form and safety when stretching and exercising. Many injuries occur because of improper form. Plus, not exercising correctly can lead to not getting the maximum benefit possible, or any benefit, from the workout.

Coaches should also evaluate the current fitness and ability levels of their players on a one-on-one basis and develop an exercise plan specifically for each player and what he or she needs to work on. That’s asking a lot, but a good coach knows the value of not having just a “one size fits all” exercise program. Every player absolutely needs to be doing exercises to help remedy weaknesses and improve strengths, and the best person to evaluate strengths and weaknesses is the coach.

However, some coaches are busy and overworked, and many are volunteers who just don’t have the time to develop exercise programs for their players. If that’s the case, and a hockey player is serious about getting the right exercise and training, hiring a personal trainer, one who is familiar with the sport, to evaluate and work with the athlete is a good idea. Regardless of gender, all hockey players need to be doing the right training if they want good results.