When kids get a chance to try ice hockey, they fall in love with the game.
That has been the experience of the Meadow Ridge Barracudas Female Minor Hockey Association. The group has got a good thing going this year, with unprecedented growth.
“Our association has grown by almost one third,” said president Liam Mostrenko.
The Barracudas were running hockey camps out of Pitt Meadows Arena Complex this week, getting set for the season with skills development and a social barbecue. And the association is organizing its busiest season yet.
It has gone from 108 girls up to 144, and could grow even more by mid-September.
“That’s pretty amazing growth for us,” said Mostrenko, noting that it is also the largest growth of all the associations in the province over the past year. It is now a mid-sized girls minor hockey association.
The Barracudas ran four “Try Hockey” development camps last season. That allowed area girls to get on the ice for the first time with a stick and puck. They attracted 90 girls, and many have signed up for the coming season.
“We tried to make it as fun as possible,” said the president.
So the Barracudas will be running 11 teams, including one each at the midget and bantam levels, two at each in the pee wee, atom and tyke divisions, and three at novice.
He said many parents believe their child needs to know how to skate to play hockey, and the Barracudas have worked hard at changing that perception. In fact, it’s the best way to learn, said Mostrenko.
“They could be walking on the ice when they come to us, and by the end of November or early December, they’re flying.”
He said girls love the camaraderie of playing hockey, and find more of it on an all-girls team.
“Every kid plays hockey for a different reason. For the majority of girls, they come out because it’s a fun experience for them.”
And he said they can continue the sport right into adulthood. There is a six-team women’s league that runs out of Planet Ice Maple Ridge, and for the more competitive the Meadow Ridge Moose play out of the eight-team South Coast Female Amateur Hockey League.
Several Barracudas alumni who now play with the Moose were out on the ice last week at the camp, helping the girls prepare for the upcoming season, said Mostrekno.
“We’re super pumped to get the season going.”