Dear Sun Spots: Women’s and girl’s ice hockey is gaining popularity in the Lewiston area. For the first in its history Lewiston High School will have a girl’s ice hockey team. The groundwork for the team was started this past summer and it was approved by the Lewiston School Committee. The team has 22 players, 20 of which go to L.H.S., the other two are from schools with no girl’s ice hockey program. One of these girls travels regularly from Peru just to play.

There are currently 17 girls high school ice programs in the state. Lewiston joins schools like St. Doms, NYA, Cony, Deering and Brunswick to name a few. Lewiston’s team will be a combination of experienced players and girls just learning the game.

The Lewiston High School Girl’s Hockey team recently won its first games. On Jan. 19 the team beat Deering High School 2-to-1, and then on Jan. 24 the girl’s beat Scarborough 2-to-1.

The girl’s game itself relies more on speed and skill as opposed the boys game where size and checking ability are keys. The Lewiston program has some girl’s who have played in either youth leagues or have transferred from other schools that have programs plus a group of girls who are new to the sport. The players realize that this inaugural year will be tough but their love of the game and competition will help get them through this.

Where this is a new sport for the school it initially receives no school funding. This is a school policy and the sport has to demonstrate its viability for it to eventually become funded by the city. It is estimated that it will cost about $10,000 just cover the ice time for practices and games this season. Due to this cost, a booster club has been formed and fund raising is ongoing. Several local businesses and organizations have helped us and we are currently halfway to our goal. If anyone would like to help us or has questions about the program, the booster club can be reached at ladydevilshockey@hotmail.com.

The Lewiston Area Youth Hockey girl’s program is also growing. This program had one part-time girls team two seasons ago and now has three teams, two of which are for girl’s under 12 and the other for girl’s under 14. These programs are starting to have success.

The older team placed second in its division last year at the Girl’s State Ice Hockey championship tournament at the end of last season. With the growth of the youth program both the Lewiston High School program and St. Dominics program will have a feeder program of experienced players for the future. – Tom Avery, Lewiston.

Dear Sun Spots: I believe the music played when the MAINEiacs score a goal is the march from the opera Aida by Giuseppe Verdi. – Eric Marnghi, Lewiston.

Dear Sun Spots: I don’t know what we would do without you!

For the lady looking for Little House on the Prairie, here in Rumford it’s on Hallmark from 11 a.m. to noon daily. And now my request. I don’t have a computer so I have already called Kraft for a movie that was shown on CBS in 1997. It’s The Inheritance by Louisa May Alcott. Could you please find out if a video is available? It was a wonderful story. Thank you for all your help. – Pauline in Rumford.

Answer: In addition to responses from readers, try contacting Critics Choice Video, P.O. Box 749, Itasca, IL 60143-0749, (also 1-800-367-7765 or www.ccvideo.com).

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