BC Hockey has approved Capital Region Female Minor Hockey Association (CRFMHA) to begin operation for the upcoming hockey season. Photo courtesy Hockey Canada.
Female hockey players will have the option to play on an all-girls’ team when the next hockey season comes around, which is expected to reverse a trend of declining participation.
BC Hockey has approved the Capital Region Female Minor Hockey Association (CRFMHA), to begin operation next season.
CRFMHA President Ian Fleetwood says there are 280 girls playing hockey this season within the capital region boundary, a decline of more than 35 per cent over the last five years.
But with a decade worth of data from female minor hockey associations on the lower mainland, 80 per cent of female players are playing for an all-girls’ team and there has been a 52 per cent increase in the number girls playing hockey over the last decade.
Fleetwood expects those numbers to climb by five-to-10 per cent around the capital per year, adding Victoria is the largest city in the country that does not have a female minor hockey association.
According to Fleetwood, BC Hockey hopes to have the same program in place for female players for the mid-Island, stretching from Mill Bay to Parksville, and the north Island regions.
BC Hockey released a report earlier this year on strategies to grow female participation in the province, with creating female hockey associations listed as one of the recommendations.
Other recommendations included recruitment programs and hosting top female hockey events such as the Esso Cup, the nation female midget division championship, and the Women’s U18 Nationals, with bids submitted to Hockey Canada to be encouraged.
The CRFMHA is for girls in the region between the ages of five-to-20, with opportunities for recreational play.
The association says there is no requirement for prior experience.
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