This group of young girls, ages 6 to 11, are the first all-female minor hockey team to ever be formed in the Osoyoos and Oliver area. The girls recently played three exhibition games and won all three and didn’t surrender a single goal in the process. (Photo supplied)
Hockey history was made in Osoyoos over the past few weeks as the first-ever all-girls minor hockey team took to the ice.
While young female players have been playing hockey with the boys in the youngest age groups between pre-novice and peewee for several years, there has never been an all-female team until the past few weeks, said Boyd Turnbull, one of several coaches on the team made up of players from ages 6 to 11 in Oliver and Osoyoos.
Turnbull shares the coaching duties with Dean Maynard, Josh Vieira and Anthony Ruck. All four men have young girls who play on the team.
“It all started with (local hockey mom) Brittny Vieira suggesting that there were enough young girls in Osoyoos to maybe look at putting together an all-girls team,” said Turnbull. “I told her that if she got things together, I would volunteer to coach.
“Brittny put in the hard work and found out there would be enough players from Osoyoos and Oliver to fill out a team and I asked a few buddies with girls in hockey if they would be interested in helping me coach. They said ‘yes’ and everything came together since then.”
Brittny Vieira said this past fall that the female co-ordinator for the South Okanagan Minor Hockey Association (SOMHA), Laura Slater, contacted her.
She discovered there had been a great turnout for female registrants at the novice level and inquired whether there might be interest in organizing an all-girls team.
“This would be in addition to their mixed teams and the response from the girls has been amazing,” said Vieira.
Since the team was formed in the past month, they held four practices during the Christmas holidays and arranged three games. The SOMHA team didn’t allow a single goal while winning all three games – 5-0 and 3-0 over Penticton and 12-0 over Kelowna.
The 12 girls on the team range from ages 6-11.
Turnbull, who has several years of minor hockey coaching experience, said he instantly recognized the boost in confidence for the girls playing against other girls.
“They might not be vocal or team leaders when they play with the boys, but some of them stepped right in and became instant leaders when playing against only girls,” he said. “They also get to carry the puck a bit more playing against girls and this gives them more confidence on the ice.
Seven of the girls on the team attend the Osoyoos Elementary School hockey academy and several girls have attended B.C. Hockey’s female jamboree, providing an opportunity to meet girls throughout the province who share the same passion for the game, said Vieira.
They also received an inspirational speech from Olympian, Megan Agosta, from the Canadian national women’s hockey team.
Because of the success, Turnbull is hoping another all-girls team will hit the ice starting in the fall.
“We might be looking to move up to atom because most of the girls will be in that age group and we can bring in a few girls if they’re younger than that,” he said.
There might be enough interest to ice two teams if young girls from Cawston, Keremeos and Okanagan Falls would be interested in joining an all-girls team as well, he said.
One big difference he’s noticed between coaching mixed teams and an all-girls team is young girls like to dance before a big game, said Turnbull smiling.
“I walked into the dressing room before a game and all of the girls were jumping up and down and dancing together,” he said. “You just wouldn’t see that with the boys. These girls know how to have fun.”
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
The South Okanagan all-girls SOMHA Novice team played a very strong hockey game recently against Kelowna – so strong in fact that the scoreboard was turned off after the local girls’ win became too lopsided. Pictured, the Kelowna goalie lunges to stop a South Okanagan attack. (Richard McGuire photo)
