The Vancouver Angels, the citys only hockey association for girls, took part in the second annual World Girls Ice Hockey Weekend, an International Ice Hockey Federation effort to draw more girls to the game.
On Saturday at the Killarney Ice Rink, the Angels invited girls from co-ed hockey clubs to find out what its like to play alongside a full roster of girls, line up against girls and be refereed by even more girls and young women.
Our association wanted to focus on uniting local girls, wrote Jim Yue, a father of a player and volunteer, in an email to the Courier. We also wanted to showcase the opportunities within hockey by using female referees, coaches and, of course, players.
Youth hockey clubs in 30 countries, including 72 Canadian cities and towns, held learn-to-skate session, scrimmages, skills camps and more. The Angels were joined by players from co-ed clubs including the Vancouver Thunderbirds.
The local reporter for the Chinese News Agency Xinhua covered the entire exhibition game and interviewed many of the participants, wrote Yue, raising our hopes that the fun and skill of the Canadian girls game will filter to China, opening doors at the local level that could (one day) lead to dramatic advances in the level of womens hockey around the world.
The Vancouver Angels association counts 13 teams with players aged four to 17.
mstewart@vancourier.com
Twitter: @MHStewart
