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A ball hockey league of their own

Free registration offered in local ball hockey league for girls
ball hockey
A member of Team B.C. and the Canadian Junior national team, Coquitlam's Keasha Dahlsted hopes the recent string of successes for B.C. girls on the ball hockey front help boost the sport. To that end, the local Metro Ball Hockey Association is launching an all-girls league, which will play in New West's Moody Park Arena.

Usually in sports, access breeds success.

Here’s a case where the reverse may be true, too.

B.C.’s girls ball hockey team that made an impressive showing at last year’s Canadian national junior under-19 girls championships is now seen as an inspiration behind the West Coast Ball Hockey Association’s creation of an all-girls league, beginning next month.

As part of the program’s aim to introduce the sport to more girls, the regional organizations, including Burnaby-based Metro Ball Hockey Association, is offering a league where there is no registration fee – just the cost of being properly equipped to put stick to floor and chase the ball.

“If we want this to be a place where we can compete (with national champion Ontario), we need this,” said MBHA president Paul Hundal. “There’s obviously an appetite for this, we need to keep going on with this. Let’s see if we can continue that progression and get them playing together during the year.”

Metro is inviting girls from Burnaby, New West, Vancouver and the Tri-Cities to sign up for the fledgling league (visit www.metroballhockey.ca). Other regional partners, including Delta and Richmond, are also taking part in the program, which is geared towards girls ages 11 to 19. Younger players would still play co-ed, and other girls may choose to stay with their co-ed leagues. But only the all-girls league is free.

Hundal, who was the coach of last year’s inaugural Team B.C., notes how a lot of lessons were learned from competing at the national level, with a team that had little concrete floor experience. B.C. would rise to the challenge, placing third overall, and fuel the interest of taking the next step.

That means providing a place where girls can get a taste of the game in a comfortable, supported atmosphere.

“The opportunity here is to offer a sport for another demographic, to play a sport that currently exists for just a few now,” said Hundal.

His resume prior to last season was as a coach of boys teams in a variety of sports. Taking on the task of getting a girls team together over a short period of time was a huge task, but one that opened his eyes to what a committed all-girls league could enhance.

“I’m super stoked for this. Lessons learned for me was, female ball hockey in B.C. has mostly just been ‘let them play with the boys.’ They start out young and by the time they’re 11, 12, the difference in physique and mindset occur, and girls basically drop out.

“We want to encourage and create a place where they can develop their talents.”

To that point, some have already seen the rewards. Keasha Dahlstedt and Jenna Proulx were members of B.C.’s u19 team who caught the eyes of the Canadian junior national coach. A few months after last summer’s tournament, the pair received emails inviting them to join the national team.

“When I got the email I was really excited about it. It seemed really surreal. I didn’t think it was actually a thing. I still don’t feel like it’s actually happening,” said Dahlsted, 16, of Coquitlam.

The Dr. Charles Best student has an ice hockey background, playing with the Tri-City Predators midget A1 team. She was one of the more experienced players with B.C.’s ball hockey squad, having started the sport three years earlier after a concussion in lacrosse made her check out other options.

At that time, it meant playing with boys – which has been the norm for a lot of ball and ice hockey girls.

The idea of an all-girls league makes complete sense to her.

“It’s definitely a league where it would be more comfortable. There’d be a lot more players at the same skill level, and a chance to meet new friends and people in the community,” Dahlsted said. “I believe it’s going to be a real awesome opportunity.”

For Proulx, who hails from North Delta and has played her girls ice hockey with the Richmond Ravens program, the benefit of a girls league were obvious.

“It’s a lot easier to get comfortable in a sport where you with people similar to you,” said Proulx, 18. “Being on a boys (ice hockey) team meant I felt different. I had to change in a separate changing room, and you felt segregated a bit.”

Although she had only one year in ball hockey – back when she was six years old – it was a fascinating immersion to be selected to Team B.C.

“I’d played 13 years on ice, so when I got asked to play it was a real new experience,” said the Burnsview Secondary grad. “There was not a lot of time to get use to each other. We had to bond really fast, and the adjustment from chasing a puck to a ball was tougher than I thought it would be.”

Dahlsted envisions their next adventure, trying to bond with an Ontario-based national squad under the pressure of a world championship, as a wonderful opportunity. Had her B.C. team garnered layers of experience on an all-girls league, like many with the Ontario squad, they’d have been all the more prepared.

“I think we were a bit blown back by that – (Ontario) is such a good team. That’s where we got to see everyone play as hard as they could, the skills really showed and our passes were clicking. … I think having a whole girls league where we could have played against, we’d probably have done better,” she said.

The new Metro all-girls league will begin play in late March at Moody Park, Burnaby Lake, Kensington and Trout Lake arenas. Registration has already begun, so interested parents and players should sign up soon. For info email femaleballhockey@metroballhockey.ca.