Girls get skills, mentorship at Hockey PEI clinics

Hockey PEI hosted a skills day for girls on Thursday, part of a larger push to get more girls involved in the sport and to be exposed to role models and mentors.

Organizers saidthe Program of Excellence skills clinic is about more than just practising drills and working on stick handling, it's about giving Island girls more opportunities to get in the game.

The sessions in the Community Gardens Arena in Kensington were open to any girls in peewee or atom hockey on P.E.I.The clinics focused on developing fundamental skills, such asskating and puck control.

Growing participation

But they are also part of an effort to increase participation ingirls' hockey on the Island.

I think having female role models is really important in hockey because when I was younger it wasn't as common and now there's a lot more female coaches, which is a really great example.- Midget AAA player Madeline Hamill

According to Hockey PEI, there are more than1,000 girls playing minor hockey andthis number has grown steadilyover the last two years.

"We're really trying to grow the female game and we really want to focus on grassroots," saidJenMacDonald, director of female hockey for Hockey PEI.

"So we want to provide opportunities for those girls that are new to hockey, we've done a few initiatives and those are just starting out, but we also want to do some development opportunities for those girls who are already playing."

The sessions were all led by female coaches and senior players from provincial teams.MacDonald saidthe clinics also provided these players withcoaching experience.

Female role models

Madeline Hamill plays for the Midget AAA Wildcats and saidtheclinics are a valuable way for young players to make connections with other players across the provinceand to learn from the more experienced players.

"I think having female role models is really important in hockey because when I was younger it wasn't as common and now there's a lot more female coaches which is a really great example," Hamillsaid.

Organizers plan to host two more clinics for peewee and atom players this winter and to add others, for goaltending skills. They hope to build a bigger community of mentorship for female hockey players on P.E.I.