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Pat Tobler, Dan Johnson and Tyler Plaunt are the brain trust of the Whitehorse female hockey program. Tobler is a Director-at Large for Whitehorse Minor Hockey and the former Vice-President of Female Programs. He is working with Johnson and Plaunt to help coordinate the female programming for Whitehorse Minor Hockey.

They are part of the Yukon Female Hockey Club, 鈥渁 group that the three of us started which is an informal group that works under the umbrella of Whitehorse Minor Hockey. We ... do some unique programming for the girls,鈥� said Tobler.

鈥淵ears ago, when my daughter first started playing hockey, I realized there weren鈥檛 that many girls playing hockey, for one, and two, it wasn鈥檛 the best environment for the girls to just play within the co-ed environment, especially when there wasn鈥檛 a lot of other girls playing hockey.

鈥淪o not long after that, we managed to generate some interest in having a girls-only ice time, once a week, where the girls who were in Whitehorse minor could come out and skate. But we also opened it up for other girls to sign up for just that ice time. So they could come out once a week and just skate with a bunch of girls and we just made it a really fun environment, girls-only. And from that, we were able to parlay that into other things, including taking a group of girls to tournaments 鈥榦utside鈥� (of Yukon) ... over the years it鈥檚 grown. There鈥檚 four ice times a week dedicated to girl鈥檚 programming. Two younger groups, (an) older ice time 鈥� some stand-out kids 鈥� U13. And a 鈥榝loater鈥� ice time.鈥�

They schedule exhibition games with the girl鈥檚 teams. Either against each other, or the older girls play against women, or select teams within Whitehorse Minor Hockey.

鈥淲e have a group of girls that range in age from U13 to U18. They practice once a week, and they play exhibition games against women鈥檚 teams primarily, and then we put together different groups from that group and go to a bunch of tournaments down south,鈥� Tobler related.

Johnson is the current VP for the Female Programs.

鈥淚 came into the program because I saw the same thing with my daughters. At the time, there was more girls involved, but I saw as soon as they hit the 12, 13 year old age there was all of a sudden nobody playing hockey anymore. So while there was 10 or 12 at the U9 or U7 level, I was looking ahead for what was gonna happen with them, and there just wasn鈥檛 anything there ... we started to get lower numbers at that level.鈥�

According to Johnson, they want to get a high number of girls to continue in the older programs, and that is starting to happen now.

He added they don鈥檛 just have grassroots players now, they are starting to compete at a development level as well. Johnson cited Alia Drummond and Emery Twardochleb, who joined the Northeast BC Predators, an elite female hockey program, on the U15 team for a tournament in Richmond, B.C.

鈥淔rom what I saw, they were two of the best players on the team,鈥� stated Johnson. 鈥淲e actually have more at that level that I think could be going down there for sure 鈥� just haven鈥檛 gone. But at the U13 level this year, there鈥檚 five girls that did a standardized skating test for the U13 Northern Zone ... the five girls were in the top 15 ... the group behind the U13s, there鈥檚 another group of nine or ten girls that are gonna be competitive hockey players ... we鈥檝e been fortunate enough to hook up with some really good contacts in Northern B.C. and that part just keeps growing. It鈥檚 interesting to see how a grass roots program can turn into some elite hockey players.

鈥淚t sounds like I鈥檝e got five U13 girls who are gonna go play a set of games in Prince George at a U13 rep A tournament ... that鈥檒l be interesting to see as well. See how they fit in. It sounds like they鈥檙e in the right group,鈥� added Johnson.

The female program has hit a significant milestone this season.

鈥淚t happened this fall,鈥� recalled Tobler. We got 107 girls signed up for Whitehorse Minor hockey, which represents over 22 per cent of the registration for minor hockey. That, by all accounts, seems to be a new record. It鈥檚 especially prevalent in the younger age groups. 鈥�

Plaunt talked about the growth.

鈥淚 primarily coach the two younger age groups. They went from being that one ice time to us having two. Now we鈥檝e grown the program ... to have four ice times and right from five-year-olds up to 17-year-olds. But those two ice times that we run on Friday nights for younger athletes, they鈥檙e just a tremendous soft landing spot for young female players lookin鈥� to try the game on for size and it鈥檚 pretty amazing how quickly things have grown that (they) have begged for more ice time 鈥� having to divide up the groups and the milestone of getting to over 100 registrants and pretty much a quarter of our association - we鈥檙e super-proud of that.鈥�

鈥淎nd the second group 鈥� by the time they鈥檙e 7,8,9 and in that U11 group that鈥檚 kind of nippin鈥� at the heels of the U13s and the U15s, they鈥檙e learning the game of hockey now,鈥� said Plaunt. 鈥淲e鈥檙e really excited ... we don鈥檛 really know what we have, especially coming out of COVID where we had an all-girl鈥檚 team in a couple different divisions in Whitehorse Minor Hockey where they were playing boy鈥檚 teams and holding their own, but we weren鈥檛 obviously able to get them out to tournaments to play girls their own age. They鈥檙e anxious to see where they measure up and we鈥檙e anxious to see that too.

鈥淚f it wasn鈥檛 for that soft landing, that great kind of skills-based Saturday ice time where we just keep it really fun and really teach the basics and just give them the space to be female athletes, I don鈥檛 think we鈥檇 have the numbers to look at going 鈥榦utside鈥� and being more competitive and starting to feed into more development opportunities here in town as they get older and 鈥榦utside鈥� in B.C where there鈥檚 some good infrastructure there,鈥� Plaunt surmised.

Johnson added 鈥渙ne of the missing parts of female hockey has always been that rep experience. It鈥檚 always been a challenge because I know from experience my daughter is a 鈥榖ubble鈥� kid, so she鈥檚 always fighting for a spot and hasn鈥檛 been successful that often ... in Whitehorse, if you鈥檙e not on the Mustangs team, there鈥檚 just nowhere for you to go. House League is great, it鈥檚 fun, and I think they deserve the opportunities they鈥檝e been able to have. Being able to give them that grassroots, but those that want more, that rep-type experience is ... pretty important, because it does get you hooked on the game. Those tournaments and those weekends out.鈥�

Johnson and Plaunt say the milestone is indicative of the growth of girl鈥檚 hockey in the Yukon.

鈥淚鈥檇 love to see the five to nine-year-olds that we have right now that are at these ice times, I鈥檇 like to see how we could keep somewhere near those numbers as we get through U13, U15, U18. I think that鈥檚 the biggest challenge and I think we鈥檙e doing a pretty good job of providing a really good environment for them. I know my daughter is super-excited when she gets to skate with the U13 team once in a while and having that spot to look to, 鈥榟ey, there鈥檚 something else after U11鈥� ... so really it鈥檚 awesome to see that number. I think it would be even better if we could have 20 U13s and a couple more U15s and U18鈥檚, said Johnson.

Plaunt added 鈥渋t really does help that these older girls that are getting towards that more developmental stage, they still love coming and skating when they can and when COVID numbers permit ... but they love to come skate with the younger girls and they鈥檙e really great teachers and very patient and very encouraging. I remember guys that were good to me like that when I was growing up and the girls, that鈥檚 their whole vibe, is that they really help each other out and give each other space. It鈥檚 really cool to see. So we have that kind of mentorship angle always going. The older girls show up, and they jump on the ice with the younger kids to play a game at the end and everyone gets a kick out of it.

鈥淲e see it in the numbers. As things grow, the older sister that is playing has the younger sister playing, or the family friend, cousin, they hear great things about how fun hockey is in this space with all girls and willing to give it a try. We see a lot of girls ... now playing in House League and they鈥檙e interest in hockey is growing so they鈥檙e playing more and more and they鈥檙e growing their skills more and more. Our association is reaping the benefit of that and the girls are going to create opportunities for themselves as well.鈥�

Watch for Part 2 on Wednesday.