Lumsden Lynx hosts Female Hockey Day to celebrate young women and girls in sports

It’s an event that could inspire the next Hayley Wickenheiser or Marie-Philip Poulin.

The Lumsden Lynx are hosting its third annual Female Hockey Day on Saturday.

The event intentionally falls on Hockey Day in Canada, according to Jay Ott, Lumsden Minor Hockey Female Coordinator.

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“We often find that Hockey Day in Canada highlights more of the co-ed or male programs, so it’s a way to get the female game front and centre,” he said.

“The whole idea behind it is we want to highlight female hockey, the quality of female hockey, the players themselves, and all the volunteers that put in so many hours currently that are trying to grow the female game.”

The Lumsden Lynx’s third annual Female Hockey Day includes skills training, games, raffles and spirit awards. (Silver Swan Photography/Submitted)

The Lumsden Lynx are part of the Saskatchewan Junior Female Hockey League.

The day-long event welcomes over 250 female hockey players from ages four to 22.

Ott said the older players typically take the younger athletes under their wing.

The older girls do different drills and activities with the younger athletes and Ott said its beautiful to watch those relationships grow.

Ott hopes parents of young girls see the benefits of playing hockey and the life skills they can get from the sport. (Silver Swan Photography/Submitted)

“The way the older ones react and just spend quality time with our younger ones … I think, both are winning,” he said.

“What’s also special about female sport is the way our older girls will mentor. A lot of them sign up to be assistant coaches when they graduate from our program, so it supports the growth of the game in so many ways.”

Ott said the event means so much to the players.

“(The older girls) get to see four, five, six-year-olds making signs and cheering for them at their games, so they feel a little bit idolized, or that they realize that these young girls look up to them,” he said.

“That gives them a sense of pride and shows the leadership that they can provide to our young girls.”

The athletes take part in games and fun drills, it’s a day filled with laughs and making memories. (Silver Swan Photography/Submitted)

Highlighting the girls this way grows their confidence Ott said.

“We feel by putting on events like this and making them feel important and relative, as they should, builds confidence,” he said.

“That, in turn, keeps them in sport. And that is ultimately our goal as a community.”

Ott hopes that other communities see the positives of an event like this and are encouraged to host their own.

“By doing it here in our community, maybe another community says ‘you know what we really like, what Lumsden did.’ So now you have another growing female hockey association from this town in Saskatchewan, or this city in Saskatchewan and that just grows the game,” he said.

The youngest athletes in the event are four years old. The oldest players are 22 and often take on a mentorship role. (Silver Swan Photography/Submitted)

When the Lumsden female league started eight years ago, it only had one team with 11 girls, now it has 12 teams and 185 girls.

There are 20 different communities under the Minor Hockey Association in the Lumsden Bethune Minor Hockey Association (LBMHA). Ott said teams from Regina and as far as Outlook participate in the event.

He said many of the girls dream of playing in the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL).

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