Empowering Women in Hockey: Breaking Barriers and Building Champions

Great Coaches Change Lives

As we start a new hockey season, we are grateful to the women who have shared their hockey stories. Each coach is in on a unique journey that we can all learn from. We are inspired by the stories of female coaches and are excited to be able to share them with you.

Thank you to the women who are working to make hockey more equitable and inclusive every day!

USA Hockey #WomensHockey #GirlsHockey #WomenInSports #HockeyCoaches

Brooke

What’s your current organization’s name? How long have you been with them? What age group are you coaching?

I am currently the Director of Girls Hockey at the NJ Bandits as well as the Head Coach 16AA Elite and Co-Head Coach 12AAA.

Tell us about your path to hockey.

I played roller hockey first and at the age of 10 I started playing boys house league ice hockey.

What inspired you to become a coach?

I became a coach because first and foremost hockey is my passion. I felt there was a definite need for more women who have played to start coaching and mentoring the next generation of female hockey players. I love what I do and to now be able to make it my career is amazing!

What was the biggest lesson from your first year of coaching – how are you a different coach now?

I think my biggest lesson from my first-year coaching is that every player cannot be treated the same. It is important to find out what motivates each player and to make sure to check in with your players during the season.

What is your favorite drill and why?

My favorite drill is “2 on 0, pass to any line”. My players are at all 4 spots on the blue line. The first 2 players leave the line and skate a big circle. While they are skating the next player in each line is ready to receive and make passes. ?The goal is for the 4 stationary players to be able to make at least 3 passes before they give it back to the 2 players that are skating, the passers are allowed to pass to any line. The 2 players then receive the puck back as they enter the zone and attack the goalie 2 on 0! I love this drill because it has 6 players actively working at the same time and it encourages creativity, passing, communication, and timing.

I feel privileged to be able to be a girls hockey director and coach. I hope to be able to continue to push the girls game at the youth level to continue to grow this amazing sport!

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Jen

I am currently with Princeton Youth Hockey from Princeton, NJ. I helped with learn to play programs as my kids moved through them. In an official role, I have been assistant coach for 2 seasons: 8U for my first year and 10U this past year. I will coach 10U again for the 23-24 season.

My journey with hockey is a bit different than most of the coaches as many of them played growing up and through college. For me, my hockey journey didn’t start until 2017. Although I always loved to skate, we didn’t live close enough to an ice rink for me to play as a kid, so I had to settle for watching Mighty Ducks and playing field hockey. In 2017, when my twin boys were 4 years old, I decided to take them skating for the first time and that rekindled my desire to play hockey. I took some skating lessons and picked it up quickly, then my husband bought me hockey gear for a Mother’s Day present. I then attended some stick time sessions before finding an Adult Learn to Play program. I still go to this on Sunday nights and call it my “me” time (if I still have energy after a weekend of hockey with 2 kids on 2 different teams). Parallel to my journey, my boys learned to play and now they both play on the Princeton travel team. For 8U I was the assistant coach for my son Britton’s team, but for 10U I am the assistant coach for his twin’s, Ayrton, team. Britton plays 10UAA as defense and Ayrton is the goalie for the 10UB team. Britton’s ability is well above my own and he is fiercely independent, but Ayrton also loves to have mom around helping (especially with his goalie pads).

I decided to help as a coach mainly to spend time with my kids. I wanted to share my love of the sport with them as well as show them that it’s never too late to learn something new. There was also a piece of me that wanted to show the girls in our program that they have a place on that ice even though I was the only female coach for 8U and 10U. Not to mention, there’s something about lacing up your skates after a long day of work.

I have to say that being a coach is very challenging but, in some ways, because I was new to learning along with the kids, I had a different perspective than the coaches who played all their lives. My Sunday night hockey often keeps me in check- it reminds me that ice hockey is a complex sport, and I can say what I want to see happen on the ice, but executing it is something else entirely. Also, because I needed skills broken down to learn them myself, I was able to do the same for some of our players.

I do feel that I also have a little advantage in that I teach for a living, so I can use a lot of those skills on the ice, in the locker room, and on the bench. My biggest challenge, and it’s something I’m still working on, is balance. Balance between encouraging them to work to the next level, not focusing on negativity, working past frustration, celebrating successes, respect, and responsibility, and how to work as a team. It’s a tough balance and it’s hard to get all kids and parents on board with working towards all of these, not just what’s on the scoreboard.? My second biggest challenge seems to be in youth sports in general- that there are times it’s clear another team only cares about the win and doesn’t show the respect that we build our team to show. In trying to find that balance and lift the level of sportsmanship, it’s very difficult when we find ourselves against a team (or parents of that team) that don’t reciprocate, especially if they win because of that approach. I’m constantly trying to reflect on these situations and find that every game, every practice is a learning experience for me as a coach, just as much as it is for the kids.

My favorite drills tend to all be focused on small area game play. I love these because the kids really enjoy just playing and it also makes sure to involve the goalie. As a goalie parent, I recognize the need to make sure the goalies are being utilized well at every practice, so I always try to add my input on drills to ensure this. The drill I drew is just a simple 3v3 with one goalie, goals in the center back-to-back. At the 10U level we want to see the kids passing to a coach before scoring to encourage that use of ice and each other. I like having 1 goalie and 2 goals, so the goalie has to work on the quick reflexes to move from one goal to another as the puck changes hands as well as stronger skating technique to cover more distance faster.

Remember: If you can see it, you can be it!

We want all the girls out there to know you are welcome in this hockey community whether you are a coach, a player, or a fan!

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