By Jennifer Offenbeck
For 18-year-old Stephanie MacKay, playing hockey for her high school has been a dream since Grade 9. She never believed it would come true, until last September.
Now the Glebe Collegiate student has the chance.
“It’s phenomenal,” said MacKay, who has played hockey since she was seven. “I never thought it would happen. It’s a whole different world of hockey for me now.”
In its inaugural season, girls high school hockey has attracted over 350 players on 20 teams in the Ottawa area, and many are predicting that it’s only going to grow.
The non-contact league began in the fall after a proposal was submitted last summer to bring girls hockey into the sports association of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB).
The explosion of interest surprised high school sports administrators who expected only seven or eight teams.
“We were pleasantly surprised with the interest,” said Jim Chiarelli, athletic coordinator of the National Capital Secondary Schools’ Athletic Association. “We foresee it growing with maybe 22 or 24 teams in the next few years.”
Carol Rosenthall, head coach of Glebe Collegiate’s girls hockey team and a hockey player on a recreational leage, said she was approached last year by three girls, including the current captain, MacKay, who were all interested in forming a team.
“These girls kept bugging me to make a team and I knew they were really serious about it,” said Rosenthall.
The 17 women on the Glebe squad compete in the 20-team league, which has been divided into East, West and Central divisions. The girls pay for everything, while ice time is subsidized by the board, Rosenthall says. The league began playing a 10-game schedule in November and the season will wrap up with playoffs starting Feb. 21.
Almost half of the 50 high schools in the region now have girls’ hockey teams. Centre-town’s Lisgar Collegiate and Immaculata high school don’t have teams yet, but with growing interest, they will likely have teams soon.
“I don’t doubt that we’ll have a team in the next few years,” said Karen Cairns, head of the physical education department at Lisgar. “It depends on who you get as staff, and if they are interested in hockey or not.”
Not only has the OCDSB recognized girls hockey in high schools, this year Carle-ton University began offering girls hockey at the club level while the University of Ottawa competes at the varsity level. Varsity status is a higher level of play and involves competitoin against other universities. The club level is recreational and has more exhibition and tournament play.
Norm Chouinard, head coach of the girls hockey team at the University of Ottawa, says the new league makes recruiting easier and gives girls more experience heading into college or university.