Feature Story

Great female players, better role models

 

By Kim McCullough, MSc, YCS

 

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to watch two of the best female hockey teams in North America face off against each other as part of the Hockey Day in Minnesota festivities. Team USA and the Minnesota Whitecaps played two exhibition games this past weekend in the Twin Cities and it was some of the best hockey, male or female, that I have seen all season. As I sat in the stands watching the women that I have played with and against for the last 10 years, I listened to what my fellow spectators had to say about the game.

The girls who aspired to get to play elite women’s hockey talked about how they really needed to work on their shots. The coaches in the stands asked their players to watch how quickly the women moved the puck up ice and found open spaces to create scoring chances. The parents of the young girls in the stands talked about the incredibly fast pace and high intensity level. I hope that every parent, coach and player in the rink realized that these women are more than great players. They are great athletes, and even better role models.

Anytime you watch an elite women’s hockey game in North America, you are guaranteed that at least 80 percent of the players out on the ice have university degrees. In Saturday’s game alone, almost 100 percent of the women out on the ice were college graduates.  While balancing a demanding college hockey training schedule and rigorous academic schedule is no easy feat, the impressiveness of their accomplishments doesn’t stop there.

In the Western Women’s Hockey League and the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, the two elite women’s hockey leagues in North America, the majority of the players aren’t playing because they aspire to make the national teams. They continue to play the sport they love at the highest level in the world because they love to compete. In their time away from the rink, they are lawyers, doctors, police officers, entrepreneurs, teachers and engineers. 

That’s why these are the players young girls should look up to. If you are a parent of a young female hockey player, you want your daughters to be like these women when they grow up. They are strong, smart and successful on and off the ice.

This is what sets elite women’s hockey apart. This isn’t about million dollar contracts and six-figure product endorsements. This is about pursuing your dreams on and off the ice and using hockey as a vehicle to help you get there. 

The state of Minnesota is lucky to have many of the best female hockey players in the entire world in its backyard. Please support these amazing women in any way you can. If you are a parent or coach of girls’ hockey players, take them to these games whenever possible. After playing with and against these women for a decade,  I know I am a little biased when I say that this is great hockey. But I promise that you will be impressed and your daughter’s will be inspired.

 

About the author

To learn more about how to become an elite female hockey player, visit: http://www.totalfemalehockeyclub.com. Coach Kim McCullough, M.Sc., YCS, is a highly sought-after expert in the development of young hockey players and has played at the highest level of women’s hockey in the world for the last decade. Kim’s player development website gives coaches and parents of aspiring young players access to programs, articles and advice on how to help their players take their game to the next level safely and effectively.

 

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