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Red Deer Advocate WEEKEND EDITION SATURDAY, NOV. 1, 2014
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SHE SHOOTS, SHE SCORES RED DEER MINOR HOCKEY IS HOPING HOSTING THE ESSO CUP WILL GIVE GIRLS HOCKEY THE EXPOSURE IT NEEDS TO PUSH TO THE NEXT LEVEL
File photos by JEFF STOKOE and JOSH ALDRICH/Advocate staff
TOP: Red Deer Sutter Fund Chiefs Breanna Martin burns past Edmonton Thunder defenceman Kennedi Schorpegge during their 2-1 win over the Thunder at the Collicut Centre in Red Deer during Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League action. FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Red Deer College Queen Keinyn Nordell falls to the ice as SAIT Trojan Denomie Vockeroth Fisher eyes the loose puck during first period action; Red Deer College Queen Kaley McMurtry brings the puck around the goal with SAIT Trojan Katie Wardell in pursuit as SAIT goaltender Laticia Castillo guards the net; Red Deer Sutter Fund Chiefs goalie Sarah Murray stops a shot. BY JOSH ALDRICH ADVOCATE STAFF Girls hockey will have the spotlight on it like never before in Red Deer when the city hosts the Esso Cup, the female major midget national championship, in April. The hope is that this will not be the pinnacle for the sport in the region, but rather the boost that pushes it to the next level. Girls hockey has come a long way in the last 20 years in Central Alberta, going from an exception with girls only able to play on boys teams to gaining equal footing with male counterparts. Now the goal is to try to match participation numbers of boys. “Hosting the Esso Cup, we’re hoping that can give girls hockey a lot of exposure in Central Alberta and here in Red Deer,” said Red Deer Minor Hockey general manager Dallas Gaum. “All of the local schools are going to be invited to games, so we’re hoping that will kick-start us again.” The end goal is to have at least two girls teams at each age level. The association has done that for bantam and midget, but is short of the goal at novice, atom and peewee levels. Getting girls attracted to the game early is the
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‘HOSTING THE ESSO CUP, WE’RE HOPING THAT CAN GIVE GIRLS HOCKEY A LOT OF EXPOSURE IN CENTRAL ALBERTA AND HERE IN RED DEER. ALL OF THE LOCAL SCHOOLS ARE GOING TO BE INVITED TO GAMES, SO WE’RE HOPING THAT WILL KICK-START US AGAIN.’ — DALLAS GAUM GENERAL MANAGER, RED DEER MINOR HOCKEY
key to future growth. In boys hockey, there are more players at young ages and even given attrition, the program still has a deep pool to select from for elite teams in the older age groups. Red Deer’s top girls teams like the midget AAA Sutter Fund Chiefs have a recruitment territory that stretches from Ponoka in the north to Olds in the south and from Stettler in the east to the B.C. border. Still, tryouts drew only a few dozen girls, where the boys midget AAA Optimist Chiefs get well in excess of 100 players at tryouts.
“To have that size of area and have 40 girls try out for a midget AAA team is a little disappointing,” said Sutter Fund Chiefs assistant coach Curtis Scutchings, whose team is out to a 10-1-0-3 start in the Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League. At the younger levels, one of the major issues is that if girls don’t make their desired A team, they often drop out altogether. The local association is examining several initiatives to attract new people to the game. Among them is allowing kids to test drive the sport for free with equipment supplied for them. Nevertheless, after almost two decades of seriously pushing for equality on the ice, participation and the level of play continue to improve. The overall ability of female players is at an alltime high. There are a number of reasons. First is the changing attitude toward female athletics. Organizers and athletes are making more concerted efforts to develop on-ice skill and everything that goes with it. For example, local minor hockey has joined with an academy program out of Saskatchewan’s College of Notre Dame that preaches everything from skill development to dry land training to nutrition.
Please see HOCKEY on Page A2
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