Female hockey players within the Sturgeon Hockey Club (SHC) will be trading in their Mustangs jerseys with the creation of an all-female hockey team.
The Sturgeon Fillies will play in the U15 division for the 2022-2023 season. This is the first all-girl hockey team in SHC’s history that will play in an all-girls division.
Currently, the only options female players have in SHC are to play on co-ed teams or travel to neighbouring communities.
“I was very disappointed with the lack of options. [Girls] would either have to experience higher team fees or a lot more travel,” said Jennifer Lockridge, the SHC coaches director and head coach of the Sturgeon Fillies.
Lockridge said that girls on co-ed teams lose a lot of the team bonding when they have to change in different dressing rooms and follow separate procedures when travelling.
“We also started talking around with different girls in the community and were alarmed at how many girls were just quitting playing hockey around this age,” added Lockridge.
An informal skate to gauge interest in hosting a team this season was held in April. The turnout presented 22 girls who expressed their excitement about the program.
University of Alberta Pandas hockey player Natalie Kieseer came out to the ID skate to help and is very excited about the creation of a female team and the intention of growing to an all-female division in SHC. She has expressed interest in helping with the Fillies if she is able.
Registration for the Fillies opened yesterday (June 1) and can be done through SHC’s website.