Girls Playing On Boy's Teams

Angela Ruggiero,four-time Olympian and longtime U.S. Women's National Hockey Team Member, says that, while the decision is a personal one, in deciding with their daughter whether she should play on a girls' team or boys' team, parents should consider the following:

If her goals are to play in the Olympics or to get a scholarship from an NCAA Division One school some day, playing boy's hockey for as long as she can is to her advantage, because boy's hockey is much more competitive (in the run-up to the Vancouver Olympics, the U.S. Women's Hockey Team played against a number of high school boy's hockey teams).

If her goals are to have fun (there is nothing like the comradarie, dancing, singing, and cheering on a girl's team), stay in shape, develop her skills in the women's game, where checking is not allowed, and potentially get more ice time, then girl's hockey may be best for her.

If at any time she starts to become intimidated by the size and strength of the boys around her (which most often happens entering puberty), it is time to switch to playing with girls.

A drawback to continuing to play boy's hockey in high school is that it makes it harder for her to be seen by college coaches and recruiters because coaches tend to flock to the girl's tournaments. Thus, parents may have to be a lot more proactive during her junior and senior years in high school to make sure that she is on their radar screen.

If she plays girl's hockey, she may need to push herself if the girls around her are not pushing her in practice so that she reaches her full potential.

As long as she is developing as a player and enjoying herself, there is no right or wrong answer.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• girls
• on
• boys
• teams
• playing

[butkicker75]

@krd751 thank you bro! you're right.

@Kidlnsain why do you think so?

[butkicker75]

@xmxsz21 don't feel guilty if you hit a girl because they can take hits just as well as boys. It's also our choice to play with guys too, so go ahead, hit them, check them, whatever.

good luck, and if anyone calls you a jerk, call them sexist.

[Icewolves9]

Girls are just as tough as boys so it really shouldn't matter if we play with boys or not!

[athena018]

Did you film that in Foxboro?

[krd751]

I hate to say this and I am guy. Girls play more as a team then guys do. Enough said with that lol.

[KidInsain]

I dont think girls should play ice hockey with boys

[xmxsz21]

i do feel guilty hitting girls in the corners thou... i feel it is my responsibility to go for th hit and if i hit her im doing my job as a hockey player and then i will get people saying wow you hit a girl jerk.... and if i dont other will happen i just want some advice