The Saskatchewan Hockey Association is sticking with a decision preventing girls from the province’s rural areas to play with teams in larger centres.
The SHA recently held consultations on the plan — which, starting next season, will prevent girls who live outside Saskatoon or Regina from playing in those centres — but said this week it’s elected not to change course.
The plan was announced earlier this year, with the hockey association stating the move would do away with tiered divisions and create more girls’ teams by keeping local players in their home communities.
Kelly McClintock, the association’s general manager, told CTV News in June he believes enough girls live in most rural areas to create female teams. The decision will grow girls’ hockey, once local associations start the momentum, he said.
"The onus of looking after female development and looking after female hockey players, as opposed to just allowing them to play co-ed and not offering any female teams, so we feel it'll spur on associations to work together and more females will get involved in the game,” McClintock said.
Some parents and rural hockey associations argued the plan would lead to fewer girls enrolling in hockey, and a petition was started to reverse the plan.
"They're losing an opportunity to play on teams with girls of their level and developing further, and if we send them out into the rural communities there aren't enough female hockey players out there to have tiered teams,” parent Kristy Laird said.
A news release issued Tuesday from the hockey association stated the communities of Hague, Delisle and Lumsden are beginning to organize girls’ teams.
According to the SHA, of the 650 girls who played hockey in Saskatoon last year, 68 were rural players. Of the 429 players in Regina, 51 girls were from outside the city.
--- with files from Jennifer Jellicoe
