I play boys Bantam AA, in Texas.
I'm a goalie. and we have no good girls teams.
I think that girls should play with the boys as long as possible.
because travle boys is alot faster and helps them develope strenght wise.
(:
plus we get scouted at the boys tournaments by boy scouts who tell the girl scouts who tell there scouts so on and so fourth.
(:

Welcome aboard hockeyforlife!

I'm glad to hear that you are enjoying your hockey experience with the boys and am disappointed to hear that you can't find an appropriate level girls team in your area.

Assuming that your main goal in life is to play top level college hockey (i.e. Division 1), you will need to get scouted outside of your region to get noticed in womens college hockey. While you can do that with a high level boys team that travel extensively in hockey hotbeds (upper midwest and New England)- (and some go that route), most girls eventually end up going either with a girls club or girls boarding school team as their route to college hockey.

I can tell you that I cannot think of a single girl who has ever gone onto D1 hockey from our district (SE) without going girls club or to boarding school. In fact, I know of one girl near us who even having gone to national camp did not catch on with a college team because she played boys hockey locally only during her high school years. She is going to college down here and not playing hockey anymore to my knowledge.

At your age, you don't need to worry about college scouts yet, but by 11th grade, you need to be playing in a situation where you will be seen. A lot will happen in your life between now and then, but do keep it somewhere in your mind that you must find a workable plan.

My message to you is play the best hockey you can right now, but have a plan to get where you want to be in a couple of years.

Good luck!

quote:

Originally posted by hockeyforlife:
I play boys Bantam AA, in Texas.
I'm a goalie. and we have no good girls teams.
I think that girls should play with the boys as long as possible.
because travle boys is alot faster and helps them develope strenght wise.
(:
plus we get scouted at the boys tournaments by boy scouts who tell the girl scouts who tell there scouts so on and so fourth.
(:

I can almost guarantee you that a women's college scout is not going to scout a girl from Texas playing on a boy's team. Your only hope of getting scouted while playing with the boys, is to also participate in showcases for girls in the summer and make the national development camp. At some point as a goalie, you should transfer to girls. The girls game is a lot different than the boys, and as a goalie you have to adjust for that.

My daughter is a goalie who played AAA boys in the north through Bantam Major, before going to the girls side and it took almost two years to adjust to the game.

Remember, the scouts like to see a player over several years in different game situations. They are not going to scout you in one weekend and have you sign on the dotted line. The more times you play in front of the college coaches, the better your chances of making a college team.

The best time to make the transition is around 10 or 11th grade at the latest

I have read all posts on this topic and would like to offer my two cents..

First of all I realize that girls at any age may be able to "keep up" with their boy counterparts in terms of skills but, As a Varsity Girls Head Coach, I am of the belief that if these play with the boys in checking classifications, extremely bad habits develop.
We are not talking so much about skating, passing, stick handling and shooting either.
What we are talking about is the over-aggressive style of play that these girls learn just to survive on the ice.
I have seen and would be happy to offer stats of girls that I have seen that play with boys through peewee's or bantams and some of these numbers are alarming. They are far more likely to spend time in the penalty box in their high school careers as a result of playing with the boys as those who stay with the girls.
I recently attended a symposium on head injuries in hockey sponsored by the world known Rochester Mayo Clinic and information that was presented by several of the Neurosurgeons there suggested that instance of concussions for girls that play in checking classifications is nearly five times more likely than that of boys playing in the same classifications.

Kinda makes you think doesn't it? It should!

I play on a boys team which is actually a free for all league. My team captan is 15 and he picked me as assistant. (I'm 13.) I think it's fine if girls play hockey on a boys team. I'm a centerman or a forward and am as strong as any of the other kids out there, even the 14 and 15 year olds. It's probably up to your family and yourself.

Should Girls Play Hockey? Should the sun rise, the earth rotate, the galaxy exist? Absolutely!

I have five kids; four girls and one boy all skating and playing hockey. Hockey is for everyone!