Girls just wanna play hockey: Baltimore Stars

I just need to take a moment to congratulate the Baltimore Stars girls for their Bronze Division championship in the Chesapeake Bay Hockey League, and I do this for a couple of reasons: My daughter and son, Julia and Nick, coached them to this victory, and because we were among a handful of parents who got the Baltimore Youth Hockey Club to support a girls program 22 years ago. We started with a 14-under team in 2002, and went from there. The program grew from 26 girls (who had been playing on boys’ teams) to 106 girls on girls-only teams, when BYH partnered with York Devils Ice Hockey Club in Pennsylvania to form the Susquehanna Rapids. After five years of success with that partnership, the clubs reverted to having their own programs for girls. All these years later, it’s just great to see girls, from 10 to 18, playing a game that, in a previous generation, and with just a few exceptions, only the boys played. Congratulations to the Stars, their supportive parents and their coaches — you make us proud. . . . If you know of a girl who wants to learn to play this great sport, get in touch with Coach Julia Rodricks at julia.rodricks@gmail.com