Girls High School Hockey

Monroe County ‘s FIRST EVER

GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY Game!

Webster-Penfield 4

Pittsford-Fairport 3

Monday, November 6^th 8:30-10pm

Webster and Penfield girls challenged girls from Pittsford and Fairport school districts in the first ever Monroe County Girls High School Hockey Game at the Webster Ice Arena. Webster-Penfield defeated Pittsford-Fairport with a score of 4-3.

Girls hockey is growing rapidly, across the US and here in the Rochester area. There are 8 Girls High School Hockey Teams in New York State. Ithaca, Oswego, Canton-Ogdensburg; Skaneateles; Potsdam; Salmon River; Saranac Lake and Lake Placid all have girls high school teams. There are over 400 girls playing ice hockey in the Rochester area, and yet no school district offers them a chance to play for their school. Some people still think that there aren’t enough girls to support ice hockey. This game was organized to demonstrate that there are plenty of girls who are ready and able to play high school hockey!

WYH contributed many players to both teams!

For Webster-Penfield: Mikaela Thompson and Jackie Powe were in goal, and Brittany Romano scored for W-P. Other WYH players included Shawna Thompson, Victoria Benson, Jessica Blind, Shauna Pugilese, Taylor Lee, Kendra Delibert, Jillian Korn, Cassie Oppela, Maria Reask and Tori Vancassel. For the Pittsford-Fairport team, WYH's Angelika Weslowski assisted on P-F's third goal, and Jackie Fraum, Meghan Hardy, Kara Naylon, Kristin Brown, and Caitlyn Wallach also participated.

Facts About Girls High School Hockey

For 2006-2007, there will be 8 Girls High School teams in New York State (Ithaca, Skaneateles, Canton, Potsdam, Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, Oswego, and Salmon River)

There are active grassroots efforts underway in many other districts to start Girls High School Hockey Programs.

Minnesota was the first state to sanction ice hockey at the varsity level in 1994, Minnesota now has over 125 teams playing!

Girls Hockey is growing at a rapid rate. Nationally, the number of girls playing hockey has increased to ten times the number playing ten years ago. In area schools there are more than 350 girls playing and the number grows every year.

If a school district offers varsity ice hockey for boys, girls deserve to have a team as well. Title IX requires schools to offer similar sports opportunities to girls and boys.

With Volleyball moving to the fall, there are currently few winter sports offered to girls in Monroe County schools.

According to data compiled by the Women’s Sports Foundation, 51% of girls vs 64% of boys play on a school-sponsored team. 41% of girls vs 27% of boys have an insufficient level of physical activity.

Girl’s participation in team sports has been shown to be linked to increased self-esteem, reduced incidence of depression and drug use, and success in life.

Webster Youth Hockey Girls Program- The Lady Cyclones