Hockey Canada and Women's Hockey

Women’s hockey has been played for more than 100 years, and has been growing exponentially since 1990, the year of the first IIHF Women’s World Championship. Today, it is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world. Hockey Canada has the information you need to succeed in all areas of the sport. Whether you are an aspiring player, coach, official, parent or association member, it’s time to lace up the skates, crack the books, strap on the pads and get into the great Canadian game! https://hockeycanada.ca/en-ca/hockey-programs/female/essentials

Female Hockey Model

The BC Hockey Female Hockey Model was revamped and updated in September of 2021. The effects of COVID-19 have had an impact on all of our society and female hockey has also felt its impact. To move forward and help in the improvement in the operational model and growth female hockey in British Columbia and Yukon, a task force was struck to rework the current plan and to recommend enhancements. The main aspects of the plan are as follows:

• Recruitment
  • Through programs that are run in partnership with Hockey Canada, such as Esso Fun Days and Canadian Tire’s First Shift, the goal is to introduce the game to new players to help bolster the game at the grassroots level.
    
    
•  Officiating
  • Without officials the game of hockey cannot be played. BC Hockey also wants to promote the growth of female officials. Retaining female officials has proven challenging over the years. To help reverse this, BC Hockey will offer Officiating Try It Events. There will also be training modules specific to the female game that will be made available to officials. The last area of focus is to create a community of female officials to help with development and to provide mentorship opportunities for female officials.
    
    
• Coaching
  • The hope is to provide a pathway from players who are graduating from minor hockey or post secondary hockey to stay involved in the game by joining the coaching ranks. Throughout the season professional development/educational sessions will be set up for new and experienced coaches. There will also be opportunities to participate in Female Coaching Clinics.
    
    
• Mentorship
  • Mentorship is the opportunity that ties many parts of the Female Model together. This aspect of the female game is the most important for the players, coaches and officials and an area where MHAs and BC Hockey will need to spend the most time working through in Female Hockey. BC Hockey will look to help attain this through our experienced female leaders, the MHA Buddy Up Program as well as Female Team Mentorship provided by athletes and coaches of the BCEHL and the CSSHL.
  • Experienced Female Leaders Inventory
  • MHA Buddy Up Program
  • Female Team Mentorship
    
    
• Female Event Hosting
  • We found what appeared to be victories in hosting events over the last couple of years. Dawson Creek was awarded the 2020 and 2021 National U18 Women’s Championship. Unfortunately, in both instances, this tournament fell victim to the COVID-19 pandemic. We continue to be fully committed to landing the top female tournaments in the coming seasons.