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The Whitehorse female hockey program has achieved a major milestone: 107 female players, over 22 per cent of the total, have registered for minor hockey. In Part 2, the discussion continues with Pat Tobler, director-at large for Whitehorse Minor Hockey, Dan Johnson, vice-president of Female Programs, and Tyler Plaunt, who coaches the younger teams in the program.

Johnson explains why these guys are so dedicated to the female program.

鈥淚鈥檝e been a closet fan of women鈥檚 hockey my whole life,鈥� admitted Johnson. 鈥淢y dad鈥檚 a complete hockey junkie, so we were always watching the women鈥檚 world championships. Some of the best games I鈥檝e ever seen are the U.S.- Canada battles so I鈥檝e always been an undercover fan, but when I had the kids, one of the things I wanted to do was make sure they played a team sport of some kind. And so we tried soccer and baseball and everything like that, and I鈥檝e always believed team sports have a lot to teach you about life, about work, about everything, so that was my motivation. I wanted them to play a team sport and they happened to fall in love with hockey ... I coached rep hockey before I had kids so it was so different coaching females ... lots of different ways to coach them, but they also get things differently. They work differently as a group. They grasp things differently, maybe quicker sometimes than the boys.鈥�

Tobler added 鈥渟eeing the girls have success is really special ... what Dan said earlier sort of resonated with me 鈥� his daughter鈥檚 on the bubble in a co-ed situation, not making rep teams. Same with my daughter 鈥� she鈥檚 never made a rep team before. But in the realm of a girl hockey player ... if she played down south, she鈥檇 probably be on a rep team, or at least a higher-level team. So providing these opportunities for these girls is just super-important.

鈥淲e鈥檝e had a bunch of girls that have come through the system that have left Whitehorse to play because they are seeking a higher level of competition... just because of the numbers game, we鈥檝e had a hard time supporting higher- level teams. But the stuff Dan鈥檚 working on, with bringing kids down to Prince George, and us putting together tournament teams, is helping keep some of the older girls that are left here in the territory engaged with hockey. I think we鈥檙e having some real good success there.

鈥淎nother really interesting thing is this latest connection we鈥檝e explored with NWT. Because of these girls leaving town, and playing down south, it鈥檚 sort of eroded our ability to keep a full team 鈥� for example U18 girls team. So recently we鈥檝e teamed with Yellowknife because they鈥檙e in the exact same situation as us and we鈥檙e gonna meet up in Vancouver here in February and form a team together and that鈥檚 gonna be a real fun unique opportunity for our girls. They鈥檙e gonna be playing at a pretty high level in that tournament.鈥�

The girls are playing in the WickFest tournament in Surrey, B.C. Feb. 3-6, 2022. It鈥檚 a tournament created by former Canadian women鈥檚 team super麻豆社区Hayley Wickenheiser. Up to 75 teams from around the world will be involved. There will be U13 and U18 combined NWT-Yukon teams and a U11 Yukon-only team taking part in the tourney.

Plaunt explains what motivates him to be involved.

鈥淚 grew up a hockey junkie and a goalie who was always looking for shots wherever they would come from and back in those days, there was the women鈥檚 league here. It was much smaller than the one there is today and they always needed a second goalie. I think they only had one adult female goalie in town, so I鈥檇 moonlight. But it normalized me that girls played and were quite good. We had some really good players in town in those days who travel out to all the western Canadian tournaments. So when my daughter started playing, I was already coaching my son. She wasn鈥檛 gonna let me get away with not coaching her.

鈥淏.C. Hockey has come up and run some programming in the spring and that鈥檚 actually where my daughter caught the bug and made some friends and hasn鈥檛 looked back 鈥� just loves the relationships, loves being at the rink, skating with friends and through those friendships and through that capacity, it鈥檚 not just her. There鈥檚 a bunch of them. You see it 鈥� they really love playing hockey together. They really come together, and now they鈥檙e at the point where they actually want to compete at the game, it鈥檚 not just about fun at the barn. Seeing that, and feeling that vibe, that鈥檚 what motivates me. The whole group is pretty special. We鈥檙e super-proud of them and that鈥檚 motivation enough. We鈥檙e really lucky to coach a lot of great kids.鈥�

Tobler added 鈥減roviding female-only teams and even exhibition games is just so important for the girls to shine. Last weekend we had a game ... it was mainly U11s. We had a few older kids and a few younger kids. We split 鈥榚m up into two teams and they played an exhibition game and those girls, they just took right to it. In a regular co-ed game, they might defer to the boys, and the boys might even steal the puck from them. In this game, the girls had to make it happen. That鈥檚 why providing these female-only opportunities is so valuable. They really develop as hockey players when they鈥檙e given the opportunity to play in that environment.鈥�

As they say, the future鈥檚 looking bright.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to go out and get some sponsors to allow us ... we need to provide opportunities for these girls to play 鈥榦utside鈥� and not move 鈥榦utside鈥�. So I鈥檇 like to really foster this relationship with B.C. Hockey. With our sponsorship, we can make it so these girls can travel four or five times a year with very little cost, because we still want them to play on the Whitehorse team and some of them maybe the Mustangs team. We don鈥檛 want them to have to make choices between 鈥榮hould I play with the Mustangs or should I play with this Northern B.C team.鈥� We鈥檙e growing on the development side and having full teams would be a great thing to see in a decade,鈥� said Johnson.

Hockey Yukon sponsors some of the female hockey ice-time. They also have two sponsors for the program, Bomac Builders and Newmont Corporation, which has been a sponsor for three years. Their funding is for tournament registrations and travel. The female program is currently looking for annual funding to create a fund for travel for elite girls.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to lose the momentum that we have right now,鈥� stated Plaunt.

鈥淭hose grassroots efforts are really bearing fruit with good solid hockey players who want to compete. I think the goal is to build capacity and that doesn鈥檛 happen without good funding and good partnerships and so we鈥檙e glad that there鈥檚 people that are willing to come to the table and people are realizing that women鈥檚 sports are going to take a seat at the table and we see ... so many of our national teams at the Olympics this past summer 鈥� Canada鈥檚 successes are driven by female athletes right now.

鈥淣ow鈥檚 the time to build that capacity and we鈥檙e happy to get support, either corporately or from Hockey Yukon and Whitehorse Minor Hockey so that we can keep improving opportunities for these girls and gaining more ice and gaining more registrants and keeping more people playing hockey. That鈥檚 really the goal of it, and we know that girls will keep playing if they have a place to grow and play together. That鈥檚 what all the research we鈥檝e done points to 鈥� just that female-centred space and making room for it and you鈥檙e gonna create some really good athletes who鈥檒l beg for the opportunity from that. If not, we鈥檝e got girls who just enjoy playing the game and will filter into a women鈥檚 league and wherever they end, hopefully, and become beer-league hockey players like Dan and I. Hopefully they鈥檒l want to coach someday too.鈥�

Johnson said female coaching is key.

鈥滻 can鈥檛 really say how important it is to have females involved at the coaching levels. I coached with Crystal Mckenna and she was a hell of a hockey player. In fact, I think there was a couple of rep teams that she got cut from because she was a girl; nobody was in a spot where they felt comfortable with that. So Crystal McKenna jumped on board. She鈥檚 helping out with the youth here 13-18. She coaches a U13 house league team with me and Tyler. I can鈥檛 say how important it is for the girls to see this female athlete buzzing around the ice. Like absolutely rippin鈥� around, being aggressive 鈥� they just have to look there. And on top of that, we鈥檝e got these U18 girls coming out to coach at all ice times ... there鈥檚 a very different bond with the females. You can take someone from our U11 group and have them playing with the U15s or U13s and they鈥檙e just part of the group ... from U11 up to U18 they鈥檙e very close.鈥�

A lot of girls look up to Team Canada and their success lately, but Johnson said these girls have local heroines too.

鈥淢y girls went to a hockey camp put on by Meaghan Mikkleson and that got them into the 鈥榳ho鈥檚 Natalie Spooner, who鈥檚 Marie-Philip Poulin鈥�, and so they follow that pretty closely. The recent world championships were pretty fun to watch ... at least my girls are like 鈥極K, Team Canada鈥檚 on - who do we cheer for?鈥� For them I think honestly, it鈥檚 more local. Like they look up to Emery probably more than they do Natalie Spooner because Emery鈥檚 right in front of them. They can see her flying down the ice and they can say 鈥榦k, that鈥檚 a hockey player.鈥欌��

One thing鈥檚 for sure: these guys aren鈥檛 going to skate away from female hockey anytime soon.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been real funny. A lot of people stop Tyler and Pat and myself and tell us what a great job and program this is, but we wouldn鈥檛 do it if it wasn鈥檛 fun ... we鈥檙e growing this thing, and see where we can go in five or ten years,鈥� said Johnson.

Plaunt added 鈥渨e have a lot of fun at the barn, and just want to keep it going and keep on making it fun for the girls, as long as they鈥檒l have us, and hopefully we keep picking up some female coaches along the way. Everything鈥檚 trending positive.鈥�