I popped briefly into the Westmoreland peewee AA Bruins game Saturday against the Moose Jaw Warriors.
Looking carefully at the goaltenders, I noticed a lot of hair underneath the mask, a ponytail emerging from the back of their masks. Checking the program, it was a goaltending duel between Chloe Sorenson of Estevan and Brooke Archer of Moose Jaw.
Earlier in my weekend, I noticed Shanelle Rioux of the Estevan Comprehensive School Elecs football team playing receiver and slot, taking a regular shift as she has likely done for years of football. She even took a few snaps at quarterback in their pre-season scrimmage against Weyburn a few weeks ago.
Also on the gridiron, the bantam Oilers have Emma Lynn Olsen and Hailey Neff, the peewee Chargers have Avery Bechtold and the Westmoreland Bruins also have Chloe Stewart on defence in addition to their other Chloe.
But back to the fact there was an all-female goaltending duel and we're not even phased by it. When I started covering sports full time in this province over a decade ago there were only a couple, and any time they tried out, people raised their eyebrows.
The fact is there are females involved in youth sports these days than ever before – and that's obviously a good thing. I often thought I longed for a day when it wasn't a story when a girl tried out for a male-dominated team and I guess this is what it's like. It's a pretty impressive moment now.
Females dot the roster of the Power Dodge atom Cudas, players that are just learning the game and it's hoped they'll stick with it.
It's not easy in the female-only hockey leagues.
The Power Tech Bear Cats will begin their season in the South Saskatchewan Female Midget AA Hockey League this Sunday with a small bench but there are enough players to start the season, which I understand wasn't a given based on the small amount of players in the age group. Eight rookies – about half the roster — will be playing their first midget action this season.
The bantam A division Bear Cats play their home games in Carlyle this year but play their first month on the road. The peewee Bear Cats will play their home games at the Civic, with their home opener coming Oct. 27. With only 11 skaters, they're already 2-0 on the season with five goals and four assists from Morgan Kjersem. The atom Bear Cats will also be at the Civic with their season also starting this weekend.
With the small rosters though, it can't be easy for these teams to field a full team or have a good solid practice. For these coaches, they have a unique issue when it comes to this. If a player on a rep team in bantam or midget gets a minor injury, chances are good they can rest it for a little while until they're closer to recovered. In the girls' leagues, the coaches and players don't have that luxury. Female hockey players in Estevan have to be mentally tougher for the sheer numbers of the teams. Numbers should be higher all over the province, and I'm certain they'll get there soon enough.
It was only a generation ago that girls were further restricted in the sports they could play. Now it's so commonplace it's not even a thing anymore but let's never forget those days when there were no girls playing rep sports like hockey and football.
These girls are pioneers playing right under our noses.
