A GHS Girls’ Hockey Team. Yes, Please!

Did you know that Gloucester hasn’t had a girls’ hockey team since 2007?  With a large increase in the number of girls currently participating in Cape Ann Youth Hockey and the number of surrounding school systems (not to mention nationwide) that are currently offering ways for their female high school students to play competitive hockey, it is a shame that Gloucester isn’t.

Well, some mothers of current Cape Ann Hockey players are trying to change that!

I also find it noteworthy that Gloucester High School’s home rink, the Dorothy M. Talbot Rink, is graced with a scoreboard donated by Visa USA to honor and acknowledge the Olympic career of Team USA Women’s Hockey Coach, Benjamin Smith, III….and yet, does not have a High School Girls’ Team. [Ben lead the USA women’s team as they earned a Gold Medal in the 1998, a Silver in the 2002, and a Bronze in the 2006 Olympic Games.

PLEASE spread the word and see what we can do about making sure that Gloucester has a Girls’ Hockey Team next year!

PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE

It wasn’t our typical Friday night practice at O’Maley Rink for our CAYH girls teams, we went from lacing up our girls’ skates to talking about the future. Where does it go after here? Some of the U14 girls entering 8th and 9th grade started to inquire about a high school team. The CAYH league currently runs a girls travel league from the U10-U14 level.  Over the last few years, girls hockey has increased in popularity with over 69,744 females registered with the USA Hockey Association in 2014-15. In our community CAYH went from 24 girl players in 2012/13 to a significant increase to 62 girl players in 2015/16 season.

Where does that leave the girls in our community entering high school who want to continue to play in an all girls league? Gloucester High hasn’t had a girls’ team since 2007. After some research we have found that Gloucester High is the only school that is not in a cooperative girls hockey team. Manchester/Essex travels to Marblehead, Ipswich travels to Beverly, and it was indicated that Rockport travels to Boxford to play. Seems crazy when we have a rink right in our back yard!

After some emails and a facebook page dedicated to bringing awareness that “YES Gloucester wants to PLAY!” there has been tremendous feedback and support from former GHS Girl players and from the community. Our girls want to play and we want to see our girls play!

Our first step in creating a team is gathering a list of interested players from Gloucester and surrounding towns. If your daughter is interested in playing please e-mail girlsplayicehockey2@gmail.com

We look forward to hearing from you!
Sincerely,
Jessica Cusumano and Mandy Milan (CAYH MOMS)