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Cape Ann Youth Hockey is hosting a Free On-Ice skating session with Open Enrollment / registration for the Girls Hockey 2012-13 season this Saturday, April 21 from 4:00-5:00 at the Dorothy Talbot rink at O’Maley Middle School in Gloucester. Based on the groundswell of interest over the past few years for such a program — and as confirmed by the attendance to the first two open ice sessions earlier this spring — Cape Ann Youth Hockey representatives will be available to sign up interested players and answer questions about this program.
Girls interested in playing for U14, U12, and U10 teams for the upcoming 2012-2013 season in the Middlesex Yankee Conference Girl’s Hockey League are invited to sign up this weekend. CAYH will also be registering girls at the U8 level and younger for participation in programs that range from In-House to Cross-Ice teams. The registration fee is $50.
All girl hockey players in this age range are welcome to the FREE skating session, even if not yet committed to signing up on Saturday.
A steady increase of girl registrants to the Cape Ann Youth Hockey program over the past few years has accentuated a trend that is being recognized across the country: the popularity of Girls hockey is growing by leaps and bounds. In this time there have been countless inquiries about the viability of an all girl teams here in Cape Ann. This and the tremendous success of the first two sessions have illustrated the desire for such a program here on the North Shore.
This is the third of four free spring hockey clinic sessions this spring. During these sessions we have been joined by 42 girls from ages 5 to 14 and ranging from beginners skill level to one who played for the O’Maley Middle School Hockey team this past season. These athletes came from Gloucester, Rockport, Essex, Manchester, Hamilton, Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, and Reading to have fun, compete, and improve on their respective games. The sessions are being run by a core group of volunteer coaches who are certified (patched) through USA Hockey.
The first session included on-ice coaching from national treasure Ben Smith, of US Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey medal-winning coaching fame and his wife Julie Sasner, whose accolades include a stellar career as a Harvard Women’s Ice Hockey player and coaching at the college and national levels. The program will also benefit from the goalie coaching expertise of Joe Bertagna, former Boston Bruins and Olympic goalie coach.
The next free ice session will be sometime over the next few weeks and will be announced soon.
If you are interested in skating on Saturday, just show up by 3:30 — there is no cost to skate. There will be some drills for skating and stick handling as well as competitive scrimmaging. However, in order to claim a roster spot for the 2012-2013 season simply fill out a registration form and submit $50 to CAYH anytime between 3:00 and 6:00. We will also be hosting additional on-ice practices, scrimmages, and evaluations before the 2012-13 season. During the 2012-13 season, practices will be at the Talbot Rink in Gloucester.
Additionally, hockey-minded individuals (including coaches, parents, female hockey players), who would like to participate as volunteers, whether on- or off-ice, please be sure to leave your name and contact with the CAYH representatives at the registration booth on Saturday.
JD Perry
CAYH Board member
Good Morning Gloucester 