My daughter was a soccer player (and a good one) up until that fateful day when she told us she wanted to try hockey in 4th grade (she had learned to skate with her brother when I took them to the outdoor rink several times in prior years).
She started out playing Squirt C in our town as they did not have enough girls for a girls only squad. She is pretty athletic and was not afraid of mixing it up with the boys. She enjoyed her time and we looked for an opportunity to play some in the summer. We heard of a place here in MN called Minnesota Made and she was able to play there the next winter (what would have been her last year of squirts or U10). It was an incredible year of development and she loved every part of playing hockey and playing with boys. The next year she played at both MN Made and tried out for the local association Peewee team. She made the Peewee A team as a first year and loved her experience playing with boys until she played HS as an 8th grader. She began to be recruited in between her 8th and 9th grade summer (that was weird) and was afforded and offered amazing opportunities at a variety of great schools and is currently playing in HockeyEast.
The relationships developed with girls across the state and now the country (and our neighbors to the north!) have been so wonderful for her and as her dad. Great HS girls hockey is really entertaining to watch and college hockey (Division 1 with occasional high end D3) is really awesome and knowing girls on nearly every D1 team makes it even more fun to watch. I record every game I can and often switch between several games on ESPN+ to see ex-teammates and friends is fun for me when not in a rink watching my favorite womens player EVER (my kid!!!).
I encourage every girl I can to try girls hockey. It has and continues to bring me so much joy and has allowed my kid to develop amazing, life-long friends and have amazing experiences. We are blessed.
I lurked for a long time and occasionally post but for the most part like reading what you all have to say (except that Tim guy...I don't know watts up with him...definitely drinks too much of that red kool-aid). Thank you forum!
She started out playing Squirt C in our town as they did not have enough girls for a girls only squad. She is pretty athletic and was not afraid of mixing it up with the boys. She enjoyed her time and we looked for an opportunity to play some in the summer. We heard of a place here in MN called Minnesota Made and she was able to play there the next winter (what would have been her last year of squirts or U10). It was an incredible year of development and she loved every part of playing hockey and playing with boys. The next year she played at both MN Made and tried out for the local association Peewee team. She made the Peewee A team as a first year and loved her experience playing with boys until she played HS as an 8th grader. She began to be recruited in between her 8th and 9th grade summer (that was weird) and was afforded and offered amazing opportunities at a variety of great schools and is currently playing in HockeyEast.
The relationships developed with girls across the state and now the country (and our neighbors to the north!) have been so wonderful for her and as her dad. Great HS girls hockey is really entertaining to watch and college hockey (Division 1 with occasional high end D3) is really awesome and knowing girls on nearly every D1 team makes it even more fun to watch. I record every game I can and often switch between several games on ESPN+ to see ex-teammates and friends is fun for me when not in a rink watching my favorite womens player EVER (my kid!!!).
I encourage every girl I can to try girls hockey. It has and continues to bring me so much joy and has allowed my kid to develop amazing, life-long friends and have amazing experiences. We are blessed.
I lurked for a long time and occasionally post but for the most part like reading what you all have to say (except that Tim guy...I don't know watts up with him...definitely drinks too much of that red kool-aid). Thank you forum!
