Officials speculate that girls’ hockey will become an approved varsity sport in two years.
When Julie Robert first started coaching the St. Dom’s girls’ hockey team, it would soon become a varsity sport.

“I thought when we first started, it would be only a couple years,” Robert said of her club team that just finished its fourth season. “It has gone by fast. It’s hard to believe it’s been four years.”

The wait, however, may not be too much longer.

The interest in girls’ hockey has reached a point that a full-fledge sport sponsored by the Maine Principals’ Association appears a year or two away.

“It’s imminent,” said Mike Haley, assistant principal at Leavitt and a member of the MPA’s hockey committee. “It’s going to happen.”

The MPA needs 10 teams to win approval by their respective school committees. Once the 10-team limit is met, the hockey committee will put forth a recommendation that the MPA body will have to approve. It would take about 18 months to start up the sport once the number of teams reach the designated number.

“If they got the letters (of approval) in sometime this year, we wouldn’t be looking at next winter but a year from now,” said Lewiston athletic director Paul Amnott. “So I don’t think it will be next year but maybe the year after (2005-2006).”

Haley says only Winslow has had its team approved by its school board and sent the needed documentation to the MPA. More than 10 teams are still in the process of getting approval or simply getting documentation submitted.

Amnott says Lewiston will submit its letter of approval in the coming weeks.

“We’ve got approval by the school committee to run a girls’ hockey team that is booster-club funded for three years,” he said. “We are a sanctioned team by the school, but it’s not being funded by the school.”

That is the case with many of the current club teams hoping to become varsity sports. Other schools that Haley says have been approved but have not submitted letters include St. Dom’s, NYA, Scarborough and Fryeburg. Schools that are talking about adding girls’ hockey, according to Haley, include Gorham, Thornton, Biddeford, Cape Elizabeth and Brunswick. Programs at Cony, Portland, Deering, Greely and Yarmouth might also join the mix.

Girls’ hockey is one of the faster-growing sports at the high school level. Minnesota was the first state to have girls’ hockey, with 24 teams registered in 1994. This past year, the state had seen the sport grow to 125 teams.

According to a National Federation of High Schools survey in 2003, there were 6,628 girls playing high school hockey in 2002. USA Hockey statistics show that in 1990-91, there were 5,573 female hockey players registered at all levels.

Since then, that number has grown four-fold with more than 39,000 females playing in 2001. Girls’ teams have grown from 149 to 1,530 nationwide with many females playing on male teams.

Becoming a varsity sport isn’t as simple as it sounds. Haley says it may be easy enough to get some interested players, find a coach, schedule ice time and play some games, but to be a varsity sport can be a whole other scenario.

“It’s imminent but a lot of them are having second thoughts about it,” said Haley. “Right now, they can play as many games as they want, and they can play on Sundays. Right now, they can have their cake and eat it, too. As soon as they fall under the MPA, they have to follow the rules that we have.

“I know they want to do it, but if they take two steps back and look at the larger scope of it, they have the best of both worlds right now.”

Being an MPA sport would mean following the MPA’s strict sports season policy, which regulates when teams can practice and forbids Sunday games. Schools would have to use officials that are certified by the National Federation, instead of using USA Hockey officials who are used now. National Federation officiated games operate under different rules. Larger schools would also not be allowed to have players from other schools. Lewiston had athletes from Leavitt and Dirigo on its team this year.

“When you start looking for a place to play and you start looking for officials, it gets a little tougher,” said Haley. “It’s going to be a little tricky. It’s not as easy as it looks. When you start bringing in all the peripheral details, it becomes a little murky.”

There’s one primary reason teams want to be varsity sport, though, and give up the liberties the club teams now enjoy.

“So they can play for a state championship,” said Amnott, “A recognized state championship.”

Club teams are often overlooked in comparison. They don’t generate the interest or get the attention varsity sports do – even though the kids practice just as hard.

“The girls work so hard,” said Robert. “We have a club championship game, but I don’t think it gets recognized as the other varsity sports do. I think it would be a good thing for the girls.”

Right now, the future of girls’ hockey depends on how soon teams take that final step, getting approval and submit the proper documentation.

“The longer the teams delay, the longer it will take,” said Haley. “It’s not going to be considered until they have 10 teams.”
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