Our Daughter is a goalie. In Texas she could play both girls and boys, which gave her the best of both worlds. In Michigan she can only play one or the other. She chose to play boys because the level of competition is higher from a goalie's stand point. If she was a skater, she would probably not be able to compete at the AAA level.

We have talked to several Coaches from the colleges with regards to when a girl should make the switch from boys to girls. Everyone of them has stated the most important issue is if she is having fun. Secondly, if she is having fun with the boys teams then that is where she should stay. As the girls get older, you are correct, it is harder to have them skate with the boys, however if they are able to continue and are having fun then that is a very good route to go. We have talked to several goalies who have played high level hockey including the Olympics and they have told us the same thing. Sara DeCosta never played girls hockey until she played collegiate and olympic hockey. All the people we have spoken to with regards to where is the best place for her to play have said the same thing, if a girl is good enough, they will find her. Girls playing on boys teams will get the opportunity to play in front of college scouts if they are good enough, through summer tournaments with girls, hopefully the National festivals, and word of mouth.

Only time will tell if this is the route that is meant to be for my daughter. Hopefully she still enjoys hockey and is still playing when the time for college comes around. Our wish for both of our children is that they still love the game when they are adults and can pass that joy onto their kids one day, anything else is icing on the cake.

I don't know how long our daughter will be able to continue to play at this level. Right now she is having an awesome year and having a lot of fun at the same time. She would like to continue through Midget Major AAA and even try out for JRS. That is a tough road and only a few girls have made it that far. As long as she is able to play at this level, we will continue to support her.

How long have the Quarry cats been around? Will this be their first year to play at the Polar Bear tournament? I know my daughter really enjoyed the tournament the two years that we went. Does your daughter's team get to play at Yale. That was the highlight ofour week there.

Goalie is a great position for girls if they plan on playing on the boys teams. I've seen several girls is this area playing goalie for high school varsity and JV teams.... The Cats goalie is their "secret weapon". She gave up less than 1.3 goals per game last year. I am amazed that she didn't go into boys travel but I think that she knows that her abilities are being noticed and and the opportunities will be there when she is in high school...

The organization is only 5 years old but the they are growing each year and this year added a second "developmental" 12u team and fielded a league team. The older teams have been hurt by the desertion of a number of better girls to a higher tier team but the ranks are filling in nicely and the 14u is looking forward to attending the Polar Bear Tournament for their second year. Our 12u team will also be attending for their first time. As it is only about 2 hours away for us it is not too much pressure on the parents but a great adventure for the girls. Win or loose....everyone will have fun...

One of the big ++++'s of girls hockey is the social interaction....Have you found any problems with the "social" aspect of traveling with a boys team?

The social adjustment was huge last year. She not only had to adjust to a new team, but a new town, and school. This year she is alot better.

She does miss the friends and the social stuff with the girls. She says she likes the boys team because it is much quicker. The boys have done a great job of including her in stuff. We will see how long she wants to continue with the boys. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer to what teams a girl shoudl play on, it all comes down to where she is having the most fun and feeling the most successful. For now for our daughter it seems to be with the boys. I think I miss the social aspect more than she does.

That is great about your program developing a second 12U development team. I think the same problem exists in almost all parts of the US with regards to girls leaving teams for higher teams. It will continue to improve as younger and younger girls start to play and the levels start to even out.

Have fun in Connecticut. I remember the first time we went, we were so excited when it snowed for about 15 minutes. Most of our Texas girls had never seen it snow before. The second year there was enough snow to go sledding. Fun times.

Thanks, I know all the girls are excited! Even though it is only a few hours away for them, there are hundreds of teams from all over, all hockey girls looking to have fun! Although their team will play teams from New England, I am sure they will find plenty of girls who share the fun of goofy hats, pajama pants, and last but not least...hockey!!!

Anybody else going to the Polar Bears???? I guess this is the column to talk about it Lets hear from you!!!!!!!

gotice,

Your earlier post about Assabet is true. Still the best, but as evidenced at this year's nationals, the rest of the country is catching up. Note that they only had 1 team (u12) make the finals this season! And it took 3 OTs for that team to win.

I watched that u12 game in person (with my daughter) The top player (and perhaps the second or 3rd best player as well) played for the Wisconsin Wild. That player was Kendall Coyne. She won the fastest skater at the skills competition, had the most goals and most points in the tourney and definitely has all the tools. She also played boys AAA Mission out of Chicago as their swing player.

The wild definitely had the best skater, probably the best #1 line, and the better goalie(Alex Rigsby), but the quality of Assabets bench just wore down the Wild after they went to playing just 2 lines late in the 3rd and into OT.

I wasn't as impressed with Assabets u12 team as I thought I'd be. Great skaters, thoroughly drilled to execute a single offensive strategy with precision passing and great timing. However, that doesn't make a great team, necessarily.

Our daughter's team (Heartland Select out of Indy) played Assabet on the first day. Usually the Mid-Am team gets wholloped by large single digits or double digits. Well this team (that had only had their 2nd practice together earlier that day) hung with them the entire game only losing 1-3 despite being outshot 62-4 in 36 minutes.

The assessment? The Heartland girls had Heart. When you haven't practice enough to get your offense going and are just getting wave after wave of fresh skaters (Heartland only skated 12 + 1 goalie) working a well oiled machine, you just toughen up and keep on plugging.

Funny thing is, midway through the first, Heartland almost took a 1-0 lead on their first shot, except for a bad hop to the stick on a deke that ended up ringing the chime next to a completely fooled goalie and a wide open net. That girl buried her next deke in the 3rd for their only goal.

Other interesting story is the following day Assabet u12 lost their 1st (and only) u12 game of the season 0-1 to the Spitfires. The Heartland coach told me later that he was approached by an Assabet coach who said they lost that game because they wore themselves out mentally playing Heartland.

Moral of the story... The best players don't always play on the best teams and the best teams still have to play the game just like everyone else.

I agree 100%, Assabet is no longer the powerhouse it once was. Several of the players from the players on the Spitfire team were ex Assabet girls who got tired of being 3rd string on the Assabet team.

I too watched the 12U game and agree with your assessment of the top players on the ice. My daughter has played against Rigsby for the last two years. She is an outstanding goalie that has played Boys 91 AAA for the last two years as a 92 birthyear. She will be playing 92 AAA for the Mission this year and I believe is returning as a goalie for the Wild as well. You are correct in that Assabets depth on the bench is what wore the Wild down in that game.

Good luck to your daughter in the upcoming season. I hope to see her name at the National U14 festival next year.

Small planet...

We know Alex well too. In our daughter's first year with the Wild (her first year full time in goal) (The Wild's first year as well) Alex and our daughter attended the Wild's goalie clinics together.

Want more strange? I think our daughter got her start in goal with the Wild because Alex turned down the job with their Tier 2 U12 team that year (both girls were 9 year-olds that season) to play boys.

Interesting to hear her move from Madison boys team to Mission. Sounds like she is following Kendall Coyne and avoiding the conflict of boys vs girls hockey for another year.

And if you do get to go attend nationals next year in Buffalo (still thinking about playing girls?), we will definitely see you there. The Ohio Flames had an incredibly weak u12 this season - we beat them 5-0 at districts with Ally seeing only a handful of weak shots. I watched their u14s and quite frankly, I think Heartland's u12s could have beaten their u14's this season. They seriously need to get their house in order. In other related news Gilmour is doing a pre-post u19 team as the Flames I guess don't want pre-post players any more, so the Flames are going to play against them at that level. Talk about an organization under siege!

Speaking of the Ohio Flames, part of the disintegration of the Flames happens to deal with their best u12 player (Jessica Brown) playing for the Wild this last season. She is a '94 and was paired with Coyne and another girl from Chicago (IIRC) on their top line. I'm not sure what Brown is doing this season, but the upcoming talent from the Wild's Tier 2 team is weak (they didn't make it out of their district to go to state, for heaven's sake.