Evaluating Options:  Co-ed team plus Girls Tournament team  vs  Full Season Girls Team

TIMING:  At some point in a girls hockey career, they face challenges such as body size differences, body contact and team camaraderie issues.  Many parents feel the need to look for a girls only full season program at the 14u Bantam division because that’s where body checking begins and many of the girls are now smaller than many of the boys.  It’s also around that time where girls may start to feel left out of the “team experience” in the locker room and off ice activities.  This timing also has several variables, such as the player’s ability and number of girls on their team, that may speed up or delay this thought process by parents.  Many girls choose to continue skating with the boys through 18u Midgets as well.

 COMPETITION:  There are approximately 20-25 girls full season teams around the state at any given age division.  This number includes Tier 1 AAA teams, Tier 2 Travel teams and Tier 3 House teams.  Needless to say, there really aren’t many teams in girls hockey at each level to play, and even within each level, there is quite a disparity between talent.  I’ve had several coaches tell me that if there are 9 teams, 3 of them will whip you, 3 of them will be whipped by you, and 3 of them will be similar in competition and worth playing.    

CONVENIENCE:  Because there are so few local full season Girls teams, parents are forced to travel to the closest rink with a full season team for practices, which in about half the cases isn’t your local rink.  Since there aren’t many opponents to play, teams in our area have to travel 1.5-2 hours to play away games, making a 3-4 hour round trip.  Based on the example used in the “competition” description, 6 of the 9 games will really not be fun trips to make because the competition will be so lopsided.

 COST:  In many cases the full season teams utilize full ice for practices, driving up the cost of hockey.  When you add in the amount of travel to and from out of town practices, as well as 3-4 hour round trip for away games, it is also a significant increase.  Many travel hockey parents will also tell you that it’s more than gas and wear & tear on the vehicle, as food costs are difficult to avoid when traveling that long.

 SAGINAW GIRLS HOCKEY PLAN:  In an effort to offer girls hockey to our families this coming season, and address the four issues above, the GSAHA will try to organize a 10u and 12u Girls TOURNAMENT TEAM.  Girls in this program will continue to skate in our house program with the boys, but will also occasionally practice and play as a Girls only Tournament team, giving them the best of both worlds.  This will keep the girls skating in local competitive games during the house program, and tournament directors will try to place our teams in the proper division for tournaments for good competition.  Because we may need other girls outside of our organization, we have reached out to other organizations to see if they’d be interested in joining us for this .

 THE REAL QUESTION:  Does a full season girls team fit my daughter’s (family’s) needs, or will a tournament team in addition to their coed team suffice?

 If anyone has any questions, or knows anyone who would be interested in this, please email Kenny at kbenson@saginawbayicearena.com to keep you updated. 

Also Coming Next Season…  A local Girls High School Hockey team (Mid-Michigan Alliance) is being organized now, comprised of ten area high schools.  www.Facebook.com/mmahockey