What grew out of a casual conversation between MacEwan University Griffins teammates has the potential to become a major boon to the development of girls hockey in the Edmonton area.

Griffins women's hockey players Jessica Dyck and Morgan Casson hatched an idea last October that grew into the inaugural Junior Griffs girls hockey spring team.

 

"It worked out because my sister is that age. So we asked a bunch of girls on her team and everyone has friends. We just reached out to girls all over – some from Sherwood Park, some from Edmonton and most from St. Albert because that's where we're from."

The peewee-aged team kicked things off in April, participated in two weekend training camps at MacEwan and the Downtown Community Arena, attended tournaments in Calgary and Saskatoon, and wrapped up the season with a wind-up party last weekend.

"It was a short, sweet season, which the parents liked," said Dyck. "The kids are still in school and summer's going to come up and everyone has plans."

And the goal of spring hockey was accomplished: giving the girls a chance to work on individual skill-sets and offering them some new ideas about the game of hockey.

"Throughout mine and Morgan's childhood, we both played spring hockey," said Dyck, who grew up in St. Albert. "It was probably one of the funnest times of my life – getting a group of girls together from all over the place, people you're used to playing against, and getting to know them as a friend.

"It was a way to develop skill better because you can concentrate more on individual skills, whereas in winter you're more focused on the team aspect of the game," she added. "It was a chance for us to teach the girls things we've been taught by Lindsay and our coaches throughout hockey.

"It was in a sense to give back to the girls and give them some new ideas to work with."

The inaugural spring was such a success, the Junior Griffs program appears ready to grow to two teams next year for the 2004 and 2005 age group. Eventually, Dyck hopes to grow the offering to several teams at different age levels – U10, U12, U14, U16 and U18.

"What we're hoping is it will grow into a program where there's (different age levels) for the girls to come in and learn new skills," she said. "I used to play in Manitoba and there's a Junior Bisons program. It's a huge deal. There's tryouts and girls come all the time. That's what our goal is, to expand it throughout the ages."