KANSAS CITY -- Hockey has largely been considered a male sport. But, there's a group of Kansas City young ladies looking to change that belief.
The Carriage Club in the heart of KC started the first-ever all-girls hockey team this year. The girls are mostly 11 and 12 years old and in the 5th and 6th grades. It's been the hope and dream of people like Coach John Crossley to have enough girls interested in the sport, at the same time and the same age level, to participate.
"Since we didn't have enough girls and boys to make up separate teams, they're all coed teams at this point," Crossley said. "But, we did have enough girls to play in a separate tournament somewhere. And, that's how we got the team organized."
It was quite an achievement to organize the all-girls team. The 10 young ladies that are part of the team are all at various skill levels. Some have been playing the sport for many years while others have been introduced to it for the first time.
"I've been playing about five years," Carriage Club forward Reagan Gaffney said. "My sister (Keira) started playing. I decided I didn't want to. And then, a couple months after, I was like, 'Wow, this is actually pretty cool. I want to join in.' And so, I just decided I might as well try it."
Carriage Club right & left wing player Leah Lewis had a very different introduction to the sport.
"I used to be a figure skater and I saw the hockey players in the ice show," Leah said. "It seemed really fun to play. So, I just decided to join."
The girls have been practicing. But, they haven't been able to play any games due to a lack of competition. There are simply not enough girls playing the sport in the area to play games. Crossley said the girls were obviously disappointed. So, the entire coaching staff set out to find a place where the girls could play against competition in the age range and recreational skill level.
The coaches found a tournament in St. Catharine's, Ontario. The girls will finally play a game when they travel 1,000 miles to Canada.
"This is the first set of games that the girls will actually play. We've never actually had a girls team here at all. It's always divided up by age groups," Crossley said.
Needless to say, the girls are certainly happy for their opportunity to play hockey and travel abroad in the process. That includes 12-year-old Carriage Club defenseman Abby Crossley.
"I think it's a privilege to be in this all-girls team going to Canada," Crossley said.
