Around 10 girls tried out hockey for the first time in Shawville on Saturday afternoon in an event organized by the Shawville District Minor Hockey Association (SDMHA) to encourage more female participation.
The ESSO fun day program is organized through Hockey Canada. It began in 1998 and, according to Hockey Canada, has become one of the organization’s largest recruitment tools for girls and women through more than 50 events hosted across the country each year.
SDMHA registrar Amy Taylor, who helped to organize the event, said the day was meant to be a safe space for girls to lace up and give the sport a go.
“It’s a nice, non-intimidating way to try hockey for the first time as opposed to a tryout in the fall when they’re up against a bunch of boys who have done it,” she said.
SDMHA coach Steve Rusenstrom taught the girls some basic hockey concepts before they took to the ice. Alongside a few coaches, the girls worked on skating, passing and shooting before breaking into a mini-scrimmage.
Kayla McCann, who led the on-ice instruction, said since this was many of the girls’ first time on hockey skates, the focus was making sure they enjoyed the experience.
“I think the turnout was really good and they were all really happy and eager,” she said.
Taylor said that currently just over 10 per cent of the organization’s players are female, most of whom are aged 13 and under. She said through hosting events like these, the club hopes to see them keep with the sport as they get older.
“We thought it was pretty cool. You do it at the beginning of the season or at the end of the season to encourage registrations for the next year, so we thought we would do it now and get girls thinking about hockey all summer and maybe register for next year.”
