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Subject: Women-in-Hockey Digest V1 #349
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Women-in-Hockey Digest Friday, January 15 1999 Volume 01 : Number 349
In this issue:
Re: A Girl on a Guys team
Re: A Girl on a Guys team
RE: A Girl on a Guys team
Re: A Girl on a Guys team
Re: A Girl on a Guys team
Re: A Girl on a Guys team
WIH: Switching EMAILs
Re: A Girl on a Guys team
wih: off ice work out
WIH knee exercises
(WIH) RE--introduction
Re: wih: off ice work out
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Date: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 23:28:58 EST
From: email@hidden
Subject: Re: A Girl on a Guys team
Jenn,
Well our family plays roller hockey, not ice hockey, for the simple reason
that the closest ice rink is about 5 hours of winding wilderness road away.
But both my daughters are on co-ed teams. Corrie has played one season as the
only girl in her age league, and Emily the same. The other seasons there were
a few other girls.
It always starts out that some of the guys have "attitude" about having a girl
on the team. But the girls just act like they belong there, hang with the
guys that they do know, and by the end of the season the guys are proud they
are on their team.
I play with adults at a drop in time, not a league. I have the dis advantage
of being a beginner, a woman and old- i started skating and playing hockey at
the age of 43. There are no "clinic's" or "classes" nearby, so I just let the
people there be my coaches. Having a teachable attitude helps. Having a
sense of humor, and being willing to laugh at myself is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.
I am having a wonderful time, and have not heard one negative comment from
anyone about me being there. One night a teen guy, a real wild man player
asked my daughter (she is now almost 16 and plays adult drop in with me) "Why
does your mom play hockey?" She thought "oh no, now someone is going to
criticize my mom" she said "because she loves it" and he thought a minute and
said "cool!"
I also bring chocolate and occasional birthday cakes. A little bribery in the
right place (i.e. the stomach) goes a long way with guys! (Is that sexist?)
Sometimes I can't believe that I have been bold enough to stick with playing
hockey. I do get discouraged and sometimes I feel self-conscious and consider
stopping. But the problem is I LOVE HOCKEY! I can't keep myself away from
it, I can't stop thinking about it, and at this point if I was forced to stop
it would be like losing a sweetheart, I would be bereft! There is no simple
explanation because I have been a very non-sports person for most of my life.
Over the holidays there was 3 times when hockey was scheduled and then
cancelled, it REALLY messed up my week.
So it sounds like you have the same passion for hockey and my advice from my
heart and my older bones is for you to GO FOR IT! Be sensitive of others, but
don't let them hold you back. How I wish I could have discovered hockey 20-30
years ago! But that just drives me to keep playing for as many more years as I
can squeeze out of this middle aged body.
Hope I haven't babbled you to boredom!
Laura
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 00:21:55 EST
From: email@hidden
Subject: Re: A Girl on a Guys team
I've had a similar experience with hockey, except its the opposite of yours.
I started outdoor roller hockey 3 or 4 years ago, with a bunch of guys and one
other girl. Sure some of the guys weren't totally cool with it, and wouldn't
pass the ball the first couple of games. It wasn't a very competitive league,
and it wasn't that big of a problem. The next year was a lot better, I was the
only girl in the league that year, but everybody was cool with it. Indoor
roller hockey is another story. I joined a team that had been together for
like a year or more, fortunately there was another girl on the team. There
were two guys on that team, that would never pass to me or the other girl.
They hardly ever passed anyways, but they never passed to us. Our team was
1-9-0 that session, and those two guys ended up starting their own team. The
next session, our team won the championship, and creamed the team those two
guys started. But the 2nd session was a lot better, just the whole atmosphere
and teamwork. Just recently I joined women's ice hockey, and sure it's totally
different than playing with guys.
And the most important thing, you can't improve if you don't play. Checking
isn't much to worry about, although I haven't played in a league where
checking is allowed, but I have been hit pretty hard in roller hockey, and
knocked some guys down that were bigger than me. I think the main thing about
checking and not getting killed is balance.
Don't be worried about the whole guy/girl thing. Sure people may think you're
weird, or it may be awkward at first. But that shouldn't stop you. A year ago
I was thinking about quitting hockey, because it was going to be my last year
in outdoor roller hockey, since I was getting too old. And I figured I would
never get a chance to play ice hockey until I was in college (I was totally
wrong), and I never thought I'd get to play indoor roller hockey either (wrong
again). I know this sounds weird, but at a CSU hockey game once, they had
little kids play during intermission, there was a girl out there, and I
thought that girl was pretty cool, 6 years old and playing hockey and here I
was 15 years old, wishing I played.
Go out for the team. As Wayne Gretzky says "you miss 100% of the shots you
don't take" or something like that.
Jennie
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 21:40:33 -0800
From: "Phil & Debbie Cottrell"
Subject: RE: A Girl on a Guys team
What a great letter Laura wrote. It ought to be published somewhere. Well,
maybe it has been, right here on the net.
Phil, Victoria, BC
> Jenn,
>
> Well our family plays roller hockey, not ice hockey, for the simple reason
> that the closest ice rink is about 5 hours of winding wilderness
> road away.
> But both my daughters are on co-ed teams. Corrie has played one
> season as the
> only girl in her age league, and Emily the same. The other
> seasons there were
> a few other girls.
>
> It always starts out that some of the guys have "attitude" about
> having a girl
> on the team. But the girls just act like they belong there, hang with the
> guys that they do know, and by the end of the season the guys are
> proud they
> are on their team.
>
> I play with adults at a drop in time, not a league. I have the
> dis advantage
> of being a beginner, a woman and old- i started skating and
> playing hockey at
> the age of 43. There are no "clinic's" or "classes" nearby, so I
> just let the
> people there be my coaches. Having a teachable attitude helps. Having a
> sense of humor, and being willing to laugh at myself is
> ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.
> I am having a wonderful time, and have not heard one negative comment from
> anyone about me being there. One night a teen guy, a real wild man player
> asked my daughter (she is now almost 16 and plays adult drop in
> with me) "Why
> does your mom play hockey?" She thought "oh no, now someone is going to
> criticize my mom" she said "because she loves it" and he thought
> a minute and
> said "cool!"
>
> I also bring chocolate and occasional birthday cakes. A little
> bribery in the
> right place (i.e. the stomach) goes a long way with guys! (Is
> that sexist?)
>
> Sometimes I can't believe that I have been bold enough to stick
> with playing
> hockey. I do get discouraged and sometimes I feel self-conscious
> and consider
> stopping. But the problem is I LOVE HOCKEY! I can't keep myself
> away from
> it, I can't stop thinking about it, and at this point if I was
> forced to stop
> it would be like losing a sweetheart, I would be bereft! There
> is no simple
> explanation because I have been a very non-sports person for most
> of my life.
> Over the holidays there was 3 times when hockey was scheduled and then
> cancelled, it REALLY messed up my week.
>
> So it sounds like you have the same passion for hockey and my
> advice from my
> heart and my older bones is for you to GO FOR IT! Be sensitive
> of others, but
> don't let them hold you back. How I wish I could have discovered
> hockey 20-30
> years ago! But that just drives me to keep playing for as many
> more years as I
> can squeeze out of this middle aged body.
>
> Hope I haven't babbled you to boredom!
>
> Laura
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 02:26:20 EST
From: email@hidden
Subject: Re: A Girl on a Guys team
My daughter has been the only girl on her high school team for the past threee
years, and she loves it!! Since she started out playing on teams with all
boys, it didn't phase her a bit to go out for the team. Some of the boys had
a hard time with it the first season, but now they accept her as an integral
part of the team and are very supportive of her. She still gets some hassles
from boys on other teams since she's the only girl at the varsity level, but
most of them know her by now and treat her like any other player.
The first two seasons she even changed in the locker room with the rest of the
team, but this year she has decided to dress separately. She used to wear
shorts and a tank top under her uniform and just put her regular clothes on
over them when she got dressed. I guess it's just personal preference for
both you and your team on whether you get dressed in the locker room or
somewhere separate (she uses the referee room). Her coach has a quick meeting
after the game, so she goes in the locker room with the rest of the team for
the meeting then leaves when he is finished.
Good luck to you, and don't get discouraged!! I'm sure when you get out to
tryouts you will be surprised at how well you stack up against the
guys...there are probably going to be some who are better than you but more
than likely some who aren't as good. Just give 110% all the time and listen
to the coach; hockey skills can easily be taught but desire and willingness to
learn are
much more difficult to impart to a player.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 09:06:38 -0500
From: Debbie Minden
Subject: Re: A Girl on a Guys team
Jenn,
Go for it. My 12 year old daughter has played with the boys since mite
years, and she is well accepted. She is even the captain of her PeeWee
team this year. I don't know what will happen when the hormones kick in
even more, but things are working now. A lot of the junk from previous
years (get the girl, gender specific name calling) has decreased. I don't
know if we have the Women's Olympic hockey team to thank, or just more
vigilant refs. Whatever, it is a lot more pleasant on the ice. Everyone
is more concerned with taking care of business than beating up on the girl.
It is too bad that your team does not have enough games for you. Is your
team part of the DVHL? It is the first year for the girl's division, and I
hope that next year there will be more games. You can also encourage your
manager and coach to schedule games with some of the teams that are not in
the league. There are still many around, and we play them a lot. It bulks
up a schedule. Our girls had about 16 league games this year and we are
adding more now as the season winks down.
I am a little confused about whether your high school has a hockey team.
If it doesn't have a team, you can play for another high school. According
to the rules (I am not sure whose rules they are) you can play for another
high school team if your team does not have a hockey team. You are in the
Delaware Valley, so I do know that is what they do around here. But be
careful. High school hockey is really just a license to be a jerk, fight,
hit, and otherwise be fairly brutal. Club hockey at the bantam or midget
level might be more fun.
If you really want to check, take a clinic and learn how to do it. It can
be dangerous and a lot of kids leave hockey when they get to the more
phyisical level. Most kids, when they start playing a checking game go into
a shell for a month or so. They just can't believe they are getting hit.
Even my daughter, who was the enforcer at the Squirt level, fell off for a
while when she hit PeeWee. How tall are you and how much do you weigh? Is
it reasonable for you to play a checking game. If you are built like Kate
Moss, maybe you should reconsider. Going up against boys who are over 5'6"
and have a much greater amount of muscle mass may not be the smartest thing
in the world. If you are quick on your skates and sturdy, then go for it.
If they can't catch you they can't hit you.
Whatever you choose to do, good luck. There are lots of places for you to
go in hockey. If you are a good sport and try your best, no one will hate
you. A good attitude is everything on the ice. Be prepared. Learn the
skills that go along with each kind of game. So, try the boys if you want,
but be prepared. It is a much rougher games. If you stay with the girls,
there is so much to appreciate. The finess and skill are so much different
from the Neanderthal nature of high school hockey. Let us know how it goes.
Debbie Minden
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 11:08:22 EST
From: email@hidden
Subject: Re: A Girl on a Guys team
OOO!, I'm soo happy i'm not the only one dealing with this...
>I really want to be a part of my High school team but I don't want the whole
team to hate me because I'm a girl.
In my case they respected me more when i stood up to them.Use it to your
advantage, if they don't mess with you because yer a girl, mess with them.
Eventualy they'll get fed up with being in the dust.
> Do you think I should just stick to playing on a girls team and not playing
hockey as much as I want or should I try to go for the guys team?
Go for it, you've got nothing to loose, if the checking isn't your style you
can always switch back.
>Another factor is I really would like to play checking hockey but I never
actually have..if i'm in shape and a decent skater (always working to get
better) will I survive
checking hockey or not?
You'll survive. Personaly I've played one game where i've actualy been hit.
The most important things to know about checking is to
BEND YOUR KNEES, and take most off the hit below the belt. dont try to support
yourself on your shoulders.
I believe I am about where you are. I just started playing hockey, over the
summer actualy. I'd played one full game before trying out for the Varsity
team at my school. They were faster, stronger, more skilled, and about twice
my size. But they treated me like one of them.
We did drills for 15 minutes, then slit up for a scrimmage. The very first
thing one of them EVER said to me was, "Don't let these guys push you around.
Push back."
The only reason i didn't make the team was because i am a) a freshman and b) i
couldn't finish tryouts, for personal reasons. But as a reward for working my
tail off for 2 months skating with the team, i am manager. Meaning i get ice
time at practice, and i get to go to every game.
I urned the respect from alot of guys, just for keeping up. The only ones who
arn't too happy about it are the captains of the team. Immature seniors who
don't like the fact that a freshman is manager. Nothing because i was a girl.
Jenn, you will do fine. They make one crack about the "girl" knock them on
their butts.
Have fun, --J
In a message dated 1/14/99 9:50:17 PM Eastern Standard Time,
email@hidden writes:
> I really want to be a part
> of my High school team but I don't want the whole team to hate me
> because I'm a girl. I'd really appreciate any advice from anyone who's
> been through something like this. Do you think I should just stick to
> playing on a girls team and not playing hockey as much as I want or
> should I try to go for the guys team? Another factor is I really would
> like to play checking hockey but I never actually have..if i'm in shape
> and a decent skater (always working to get better) will I survive
> checking hockey or not?
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 11:35:02 EST
From: email@hidden
Subject: WIH: Switching EMAILs
I'll be switching this list to one of my other email addy's. Either
email@hidden OR email@hidden
When it happens I'll re-introduce myself. =)
- --J
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 13:53:24 EST
From: email@hidden
Subject: Re: A Girl on a Guys team
In a message dated 99-01-15 09:09:01 EST, email@hidden writes:
<< Whatever you choose to do, good luck. There are lots of places for you to
go in hockey. If you are a good sport and try your best, no one will hate
you. A good attitude is everything on the ice. Be prepared. Learn the
skills that go along with each kind of game. So, try the boys if you want,
but be prepared. It is a much rougher games. If you stay with the girls,
there is so much to appreciate. The finess and skill are so much different
from the Neanderthal nature of high school hockey. Let us know how it goes.
>>
If I recall correclty, you said that you were just learning how to play.
Usually HS teams are quite competitive, and the players are highly skilled.
Perhaps you should watch a few of you HS Team's games to determine their
level of play. If you feel that you have the ability to compete on that
level, then GO FOR IT!
If you are jsut starting out, then you should stay with clinics and club teams
(coed or whatever) until you know you are ready for the HS team.
Good luck!!
Jill
# 77 Brooklyn Blades
# 77 LI Hurricanes
"Only you can prevent hockey stick fires."
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 16:24:32 EST
From: email@hidden
Subject: wih: off ice work out
I know every women's magazine in the last 20 years has had an article on
working out. I know there are non-stop fitness programs on tv all day. But
what I would be interested to hear from you hockey playing women is:
What exercise do you do between hockey games that really keeps you ready to
play again?
Is there anything in particular that you know really helps you with a certain
aspect of playing hockey?
Is there a certain way of eating before playing that helps you?
Do you get a nervous stomach before games, and have you found a way to
overcome it?
Just wondering! laura
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 13:30:14 -0800 (PST)
From: Jessica Yeo
Subject: WIH knee exercises
i was just wondering if there are any good exercises
to strengthen knee ligaments?
===
Jessica (AirYeo) Yeo#4 Sylvania Maple Leafs
The Womens Hockey World
http://www.angelfire.com/oh/whockey
Official Defiance Bulldogs Girls Soccer Site
http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/3955/index.html
Official Sylvania Maple Leafs Site
http://www.angelfire.com/oh/SylvaniaMapleLeafs
_________________________________________________________
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Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 18:53:35 -0500 (EST)
From: email@hidden
Subject: (WIH) RE--introduction
Greetings,
This is formerly RWingsFoxx. or J
just as a brief intro -- I am a freshman at Walled Lake Central, I am the manager of our Varsity Hockey Team, and I am one of the first girls to ever try out for the team. Hopfuly to be the first to make the team.
Laters,
- --J
- ------------------------------------------------------------------
Get free personalized email from the NHL at http://www.nhlmail.com
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 19:11:01 EST
From: DATBYemail@hidden
Subject: Re: wih: off ice work out
In a message dated 1/15/99 4:32:20 PM Eastern Standard Time, email@hidden
writes:
<< What exercise do you do between hockey games that really keeps you ready to
play again?
**** I play hockey a minimum of 3 X a weeek. Some weeks 5 nights. So I
really do little else during the season, excpet for skiing. Off season, I
still play at least 2 X a week, btu I do other things like rollerblading and
long distance cycling. It is also important to get rest on soem of the "off"
days.
Is there anything in particular that you know really helps you with a certain
aspect of playing hockey?
*******rollerblading is great! Cyucling is good too - great aerobic workout,
builds stamina. Also works the quads liek crazy!
Is there a certain way of eating before playing that helps you?
******* I alwys try to make sure that I am done eating at least a few hours
before a game. I keep it simple - usually pasta. Sometimes I want to get
soem extra protein - so chicken is pretty good. Perhaps with soem carbs -
rice or pasta. A few veggies can never hurt.
If I can;t have a regular meal a few hours before a game, I will have a
powerbar, or a banana or a bagel clsoe to game time - but make sure I am done
at least an hour before the game. All pretty simple stuff.
I also make sure that I drink a LOT of water during the day. About 8 glasses
worth.
Do you get a nervous stomach before games, and have you found a way to
overcome it?
******* Nope. I get a little silly & hyperactive if I;m really psyched for a
game, but that is about it.
Just wondering! laura
>>
Good luck!
Jill
# 77 Brooklyn Blades
# 77 LI Hurricanes
"Only you can prevent hockey stick fires."
------------------------------
End of Women-in-Hockey Digest V1 #349
*************************************