(Photo: submitted)

More and more females in New Brunswick are taking up the game of hockey.

President of the Southeast Female Hockey Association Nick Kitchen says based on numbers from last year, “Female hockey grew 16 percent. We’re seeing a bit of a decline on the co-ed side, but the female side is up. Specific to SEFHA over the last three years, we’ve grown over 100 percent, and we’ve gone from 11 teams up to 25.”

Kitchen says Southeast also has more competitive teams now, with the first female under 13 Triple AAA team ever in the province.

“Hockey and football and sports like that aren’t just for boys anymore. There are some amazing female athletes out there. For them to have a spot to play with their peers, the more opportunities for females to participate in sport at a higher level, I think it’s fantastic” Kitchen says.

He feels there is a lot more awareness surrounding female hockey now, compared to the past.

Kitchen grew up playing hockey and has coached for the past twenty years.

(Photo: submitted)

“Sometimes you’ll find on the ice, just with the flow of the game, there’s a little bit more focus on the movement of the puck and things like that in the female game. There is a difference between coaching both boys and coaching girls. The biggest difference for girls is that they want to feel that pride of belonging before they’ll really go out and give you everything they’ve got. So it’s really, creating that welcoming environment that allows them to do their best,” Kitchen emphasized.

He says the girls really come together and support each other on the ice.

“There is that sense of community and team. It’s exciting to watch throughout the year as they grow and develop as a team. We’ve got girls this year that played together last year and go to different high schools and if there are high school events, they search each other out, because they develop those friendships,”  Kitchen adds.