Rachel Tuszynski has always had a special relationship with her father. He taught her how to skate, guided her through beginning hockey, then coached her first Mite (lowest level) teams. So when Steve Tuszynski suggested to his daughter that she might want to play on a girls hockey team, the 10-year-old Bolingbrook girl balked at the idea.
“She said she never wanted to play on the girls team because then she wouldn’t be the only girl on the team,” Tuszynski recalled. But after making the switch, “now she doesn’t want to play with the boys again.”
With, not against, is the crucial word here because Rachel and her teammates on the Sabres Squirt (second level) girls team play against boys almost all of the time. They’re part of a rapidly growing number of girls and women in Illinois who come to hockey as participants, not as spectators.
“There are so many girls who are playing with the boys that I can’t tell how many are playing just on girls teams,” said Jay Cohen, director of women and girls hockey for the Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois (AHAI). Although figures from the 1997-98 season are not yet available, about 750 women and girls are expected to play ice hockey this winter in Illinois, up from 600 during the previous season. USA Hockey’s Central District, of which Illinois is a part, lags behind such states as Minnesota, Michigan and Massachusetts, where female participation in the sport is strong.
Girls ice hockey got its start in the Chicago area earlier this decade with the Shooting Stars in Northbrook and the Sparks at Center Ice in Glen Ellyn. Gloria Swan, longtime hockey mom with the Flames club in Glen Ellyn, started the Sparks five years ago as a vehicle for her daughter Shelly, who was interested in playing. “We found that all we needed to do was put up a notice in the rink and we got all these sisters of boys who were already playing,” Swan said.
DuPage County is a hot spot for girls hockey with five club organizations: the Huskies in Darien, the Sparks in Glen Ellyn, the Wolves in Naperville and the Sabres and Team Illinois in Woodridge. Although the area boasts a wealth of teams, not all the players live near their home rinks.
“Our organization has players who come from as far away as northwest Indiana,” said Sue Vitt of Kenilworth, a member of the Team Illinois board of directors who also has two daughters who play for the organization. A similar situation exists on Tuszynski’s Sabres team, which draws players from as far away as Sycamore, Romeoville and Lansing.
What makes a girl and her parents seek out a sport where practices may be an hour away and the games even farther?
Almost to an individual, the girls cite speed as a factor in why they love hockey. “You’re always moving, there’s always some action going on somewhere,” explained Sparks defenseman Frankie Williams, 12, of Montgomery. “It’s definitely more action than figure skating.”
“I like to play rough,” said Naperville’s Carolyn Thiess, 9, who plays defense for the Sabres and left wing for Team Illinois’ Squirt girls tournament team.
Technically, the girls play a no-check game, meaning intentional physical contact between opposing players is prohibited. Plenty of bumping and pushing does occur, however, particularly if male opponents engage in trash talk.
“I’m not a dirty player, but if they do something to me, I’ll do something back to them. I’m not going to take anything,” said 12-year-old Maria Henry of Bloomingdale.
Although the girls may talk big about being tough, the difference between boys’ and girls style of play is similar to that of basketball, where the girls game is characterized by finesse and fundamentals as opposed to power. Coaches of female hockey teams generally agree that their players approach the game differently than their male counterparts and must be coached differently. In short, they must be taught how to win.
“It’s a challenge to get them to understand the game,” said Tom Lavin, coach of the Franklin Park Panthers Pee Wee (third level) girls team. “They have a good concept of positioning, but it’s hard to get them to be aggressive.”
Sparks Squirt coach Bob Devereux of Lombard echoes the sentiment. “My motto this year is `Intensity.’ The girls are very quick, they’re all smart, but they don’t have the same intensity as the boys,” he explained.
Another difficulty in coaching a girls team comes from the different ability levels present in just about every organization except Team Illinois, which fields elite teams that often travel out of state. The typical girls squad fields players who have several years of hockey experience along with former or present figure skaters with fast feet but little hockey know-how along with players brand new to the game.
“Sometimes I have to break practice into groups of the older and younger girls so they can work on different skills,” Devereux noted.
Age ranges on a girls team are more widespread. In Illinois, boys teams have an age range of about two years. Boys playing at the Squirt level this season, for example, were generally born between July 1, 1986, and June 30, 1988. Squirt girls, however, are generally considered to be 12 years old and under, born after July 1, 1985. Pee Wee girls are generally 13 to 15 years old, and boys of the same age are Bantams (fourth level).
Such a wide age range poses unique problems. Because girls physically mature faster than boys, it’s not unusual to see 12-year-olds who are nearly adult height and weight playing against boys who are half their size. “Many teams are afraid of our girls because I don’t think they know quite what to expect,” says Brett Hart of Wheaton, whose daughter Laura plays for the Sparks. “They’re overwhelmed because the girls have such a strong team.”
The Squirt age classification also groups together girls on the brink of adolescence with those who may still be in the primary grades. That’s the case with Laura Hart, who, as an 8-year-old, is the youngest member of her team. “I didn’t want her to be 8 going on 18,” said Brett Hart.
So Hart and his wife, Julie, asked Laura’s teammates at the beginning of the season not to swear or discuss inappropriate topics in front of their daughter.
“(Laura’s teammates) have been very good; we haven’t had any problems,” said Julie Hart. “In fact, at a recent game, Laura had her first official assist and the two biggest girls on the team, Rebecca Mitter and Maria (Henry) hugged her. It was like a Laura sandwich. She was almost lost between the two girls. All you could see was the pink tape on her stick.”
For her part, Laura says she likes playing with older girls. “They’re really nice to me; they’re like big sisters,” she said.
Intense camaraderie is characteristic of girls ice hockey. The girls sense that they’re pioneers in the sport and know that they’re still considered unique among athletes. “I could play basketball and it wouldn’t be a big deal, but not a lot of people play hockey,” said Jackie Cohen, 14, of Buffalo Grove, co-captain of Team Illinois’ Pee Wee major team.
Cindy May, manager of the Sabres Squirt girls, said team spirit is high. “I think for the girls, they feel more a part of the team,” she explained. “When they’re on a team with boys, there isn’t quite that feeling.”
As the girls get older, they can’t dress in the same locker room as the boys. In addition, negative attitude toward their female counterparts sometimes carries over into team play.
“When I was playing with the boys, they didn’t want to pass (the puck) to me; they only passed to themselves,” Rachel Tuszynski said. “It just wasn’t fun anymore.”
Yet some girls like having boys as teammates. “I miss playing with them,” said Samantha Menton, 11, of Bloomingdale. Samantha played defense for the Northwest Chargers in Rolling Meadows as well as left wing for the Team Illinois girls Squirt tournament team. She now plays for the Sabres. “You get to play aggressive (with the boys). Girls aren’t as rough, and they go down easier.”
Individuals involved in the local women’s and girls hockey scene are excited about the debut of women’s ice hockey as a medal sport at this year’s Winter Olympics in Japan. “With the Olympics, I believe we’ll get more figure skaters (to play hockey),” Swan said. “I really feel that someday we’ll have a girls league here.”
AHAI’s Cohen is also optimistic about the effect media exposure will have on the sport. For one, it will make girls and their families aware of the college scholarship opportunities for female players.
“The girls who are in the 12-to-15-year-old age bracket will reap the benefits of going to a good (college) via their hockey ability,” Cohen said. “In Illinois, there are a lot of extremely bright girls who play hockey. There aren’t as many (scholarships) as there are for the boys, but the opportunity exists for girls to use the game of hockey to further their education.”
Cohen’s daughter Jackie is well aware of scholarship opportunities and has set her sights on attending Dartmouth College after high school. But she has one short-term goal she’d like to achieve first with Team Illinois: “I want to make it to (the USA Hockey National Championships) this year.”
BETTER HAVE DEEP POCKETS
Equipping a hockey player is expensive, no matter how you look at it. Cost of new mid-range gear for a large child or small adult is approximately $750, according to a list provided by Dan DeNight, store manager of Jerry’s Hockey Warehouse Outlet in Schaumburg.
That figure includes skates, shoulder pads, pants, shin guards, gloves, helmet and face cage, elbow pads, garter belt, mouthguard and neck protector. Wood hockey sticks average $26.99; aluminum or graphite cost $69.99 to $99.99. Bags to transport gear are $34.99-$64.99.
Several manufacturers now make items specifically for women’s bodies. Bauer markets a pelvic protector ($19.99), Louisville has shoulder pads (69.99) and pants ($109.99), and CCM has women’s 452 Tacks skates ($199.99). Some women and girls, however, may be better off staying with a man’s skate. Area referee Sjoukje Brown of Barrington wasn’t impressed with the woman’s skate. “They were wider than men’s skates and very floppy,” Brown said.
With the cost of even mid-range equipment being somewhat prohibitive, many hockey parents buy gear second hand, frequenting stores such as Play It Again Sports or pro shops at local rinks. With the exception of skates and helmets, cost of individual items in such places can be reduced by about 50 percent. Some organizations, such as the Flames club in Glen Ellyn conduct a used hockey equipment sale prior to the beginning of the fall season, which helps parents buy equipment at lower prices.
Fees to play on teams such as the Sparks and the Sabres, which are part of the Northwest Hockey League, generally include ice time for evaluation, practices once or twice per week, power skating clinics and 18 league games. Fees for the fall and winter season, from September to mid-March, run $745 for the Sparks and $800 for the Sabres. Jerseys are included in the fee, but tournaments are extra. Tournament fees average $600 per team, said Sabres manager Cindy May, with the cost divided among the players.
