Minor Hockey Talks - Hockey Forum

Guest wrote: ↑Fri Jan 24, 2025 8:39 am

Guest wrote: ↑Mon Jan 20, 2025 12:38 pm Just wondering what everyone's opinions are the girls teams in the Southern District? My daughter will be looking to try out either this year or next and thinking either Cold Creek Comets, West Northumberland Wild, Belleville Bearcats or maybe Peterborough Ice Kats. Anyone have good (or bad) experiences with those teams? The other option is to do local U9 MD which is mixed (boys and girls). I know some folks say to keep the girls playing with the boys as long as possible then make the jump around U10/U11 to all girls.

Do what's best for your daughter. I have son's in the older age groups. Every single top female player played with boys. Hard stop. Some still do.

You're not here to be an ambassador for girls hockey and help the group collectively. You're here to help your daughter along. If she can keep up and stay with the boys, no doubt it makes her a better hockey player. Also, the girls that did go back end up playing 1-2 years up anyway.

Remove the emotional side and do what's best for your daughter. There will be lots of opinions but at this age group, frankly most parents have zero clue what they're doing so be cautious in listing to parents of 6 year olds. Giving honest feedback. Hope it helps.

Thanks and appreciate the opinion. It seems like most folks are saying to stick with boys as long as possible. Hopefully later on at U11 or U12 politics don't take over and the girls who have been playing with the boys will be given an honest chance to make all girls teams. We all know when it comes to rep hockey, if you're not on the team when it's formed, it can be hard to break in later.

Guest wrote: ↑Fri Jan 24, 2025 3:13 am .....i only suggested girls play with the boys at u8/9 is for their development. they will get better playing with boys cause it will toughen them up. this is all for THEIR development long term.

i never said they HAD to play with boys..i'm saying if she's as good as the boys, they will get better faster the longer they play with boys. every parent with a talented daughter knows that lol.

but like i said, i said, switch her to girls if it seems appropriate (ie. she's losing confidence vs boys, or all her friends are on the girls team, or her dad can coach the girls but not the boys)

at end of day, each their own....but if u want them to dominate other girls at u9 rather than be the middle pack on a boys team at u8/u9, then...you are being very short sighted. cause lets be honest..u9 girls rep hockey likely isn't great (from what i heard ).

I've watched a few games of U9 girls because friends have younger daughters that play (our son plays with their older sons) and it's not great. None of the girls I've seen can raise the puck in the air, whereas in U8 MD almost all the boys can do it. I think girls don't get enough coaching/instruction at home on this stuff. "Their brother can go to the NHL, they can't" type of mentality that parents have towards girls and hockey. Maybe now with the PWHL that will change. Let's hope so. Girls need to learn to raise the puck by U7. In U8/U9 MD, all the goal scorers are the kids that can raise the puck, and they are almost all boys (I've personally never seen a girl in U8 be able to raise it, but I've seen U5 boys do it). So you end with the girls never scoring and getting discouraged. Again hopefully this changes.

What girls need is a AAA division so the best ones will go to AAA girls teams instead of staying on A or AA boys teams. That's how you attract and keep talent.

Guest wrote: ↑Fri Jan 24, 2025 3:24 pm What girls need is a AAA division so the best ones will go to AAA girls teams instead of staying on A or AA boys teams. That's how you attract and keep talent.

OWHA tiers lowest to highest go B, BB, A, AA. AA is their equivalent of AAA. Highly skilled hockey at the older levels, girls AA is.

I think the girls just start playing hockey at a later age on average then the boys, hence the skill disparity for teams as a whole at say the age of 6 or 7. No data, just a sense from being around both loop for some years now. The girls can keep up just fine given equal exposure young, and then once the the boys hit puberty pretty much forget about it minus the rare exceptions.

Not sure there's a right or wrong answer here. It's hard to judge that young, but any team that has a decent coach, relatively similarly skilled players to your own kid that is tiered appropriately will be a good fit to start. Which loop you find the best fit in is an open question. But lots of time to fine tune it going forward.

Really depends on the quality of your local girls association.

As a parent with both a boy and a girl in competitive hockey. I will say the higher end girls programs are strong as Tier 1/2 boys at the U8/U9 level. It starts to diverge at U10/11 when the boys start getting taller/bigger.

The girls U9A level would be similar to boys Tier 2 (all the girls on our team can lift the puck) and the coaching at our organization is strong - all Rep coaches are ex-NCAA Div 1 woman players.

I think in the past the gap was bigger but now the development has narrowed if you’re with the right organization.

Most organizations try to keep core girls together so it does make it harder to break in U11 onwards. Most of girls teams U13+ are usually made up of a mix of girls that played boys hockey.

Guest wrote: ↑Sat Jan 25, 2025 2:37 pm Really depends on the quality of your local girls association.

As a parent with both a boy and a girl in competitive hockey. I will say the higher end girls programs are strong as Tier 1/2 boys at the U8/U9 level. It starts to diverge at U10/11 when the boys start getting taller/bigger.

The girls U9A level would be similar to boys Tier 2 (all the girls on our team can lift the puck) and the coaching at our organization is strong - all Rep coaches are ex-NCAA Div 1 woman players.

I think in the past the gap was bigger but now the development has narrowed if you’re with the right organization.

Most organizations try to keep core girls together so it does make it harder to break in U11 onwards. Most of girls teams U13+ are usually made up of a mix of girls that played boys hockey.

Totally agree. The gap has narrowed a lot in recent years. What it all comes down to is development and coaching. Where will they get the best coaching, the most ice time and best development? That's where you should go.

Anyone know who is coaching the U9 MD teams for the 25/26 season?
Specifically the teams mentioned int he OG post.

Belleville Bearcats
Peterborough Ice Kats
Cold Creek Comets
West Northumberland Wild

Any rumors out there on which will be the best team with the best coaching staff?

Im a dad with 3 girls who have played A/AA in the Durham region and are now finishing U13:

Belleville and Peterborough both run "Girls AA" programs in U11 (thats the top level of girls hockey). If those centres aren't too far from you - getting in early would make it more likely to play on the AA girls teams. Girls hockey is also 2 age groups so she'd be playing with kids 1 year older if shes good.

Cold Creek and Northumberland are typically much weaker calibre so you would never have to worry about making a top team (they only run B/BB level).

My daughter's teams have had girls come out to tryouts in U13 after playing their entire time in "boys AA". They are surprisingly often the weaker girls at the tryout. It is because those girls just skate up and down the ice with the boys and are rarely involved in the plays so they didnt really develop.

The main pointss to consider:
1. Stay in boys if your daughter is a top player, touching the puck more than the boys in games, and on a team where all the boys can raise the puck/slapshot/deke the goalie ect.

2. Your daughter can also sign up for girls and boys in the same season and play both