New Washtenaw County team offers spot for girls to play high school hockey

By @StefanKubus – 

There’s a new girls’ high school hockey team forming in Washtenaw County for the 2017-18 season.

Currently, girls ages 15-18 in the area have no local hockey option, as the Ann Arbor Amateur Hockey Association has several girls’ hockey teams, but currently ends at the 14U age group. There was formerly a 19U Tier 2 team in Ann Arbor last season that won the state championship, but those girls have since graduated and the coach has retired. The plan is for this new high school team to pick up where the AAAHA leaves off at the 14U level.

Meanwhile, the Michigan Metro Girls High School Hockey League actually has two Ann Arbor-area teams: Ann Arbor Pioneer and Ann Arbor Skyron – a unified squad consisting of girls from the city’s Skyline and Huron high schools. But for girls in the county who do not attend those schools and still wish to play high school hockey, there was previously no option.

Kathy Wilson is assisting in forming this team that would represent girls in various schools across Washtenaw County who do not attend one of the three Ann Arbor-area high schools with teams in the MMGHSHL. Wilson said there are a number of students who have expressed interest in playing high school hockey, but have found that participation numbers in their individual schools are too low to create a team.

“A blended high school team will give these girls the opportunity to play hockey and still fit in their other high school sports,” Wilson said.

“Our hope is that over time this starter program will generate several new teams for Washtenaw-area high school girls. The students have all commented on how important it is for them to receive recognition within their own high school.  Our goal is that, as participation with this team grows, there will be a natural development of additional, school-specific teams for them to play on.”

Wilson added that official home ice for the team has yet to be determined as talks with local rinks are ongoing. Ice and coaching details are expected to be finalized as the team forms in the next month.

“Ideally, we’d love to use ice from multiple rinks across the county to support and reflect our team makeup,” Wilson said.

There will be an informational event held on Sunday, June 11 from 2:30-5 p.m. at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube. To sign up for the event, click here.