Girls' minor hockey in Edmonton to get boost from new alliance

When Jill Chmilar started playing hockey in the 1980s, choices were limited for girls entering the sport.

She started out playing on boys' teams, and when she eventually joined an all-girls team in her teens, their only real competitive option was playing against women's teams.

Years later, after a stint with the University of Alberta Pandas hockey team, Chmilar is a girls' hockey coach in Edmonton and her own teenage daughter now plays on an all-female team.

But even though the number of girls getting involved in hockey has dramatically increased, Chmilar said all-female teams often don't have equal access to skills development and competitive training.

"I don't think the issue now is getting girls to play. The issue is trying to raise the competition level," she said.

"Edmonton is behind Calgary, and even some of the smaller cities. I'm not sure why or how."

Hockey Edmonton is rolling out reforms in hopes of changing that.

The organization recently introduced the Edmonton Female Hockey Alliance, which will put girls' minor hockey under a single association by the 2024-25 season — similar to the system for girls' minor hockey in Calgary.

Tomiko McCall, first vice-president of Hockey Edmonton, told CBC's Edmonton AM this week that the goal is to replace the existing "fragmented" approach of the city's seven different female hockey associations or clubs.

LISTEN | Growing grassroots girls' hockey:

McCall said about 1,400 girls play minor hockey across Edmonton, with roughly 1,200 on all-female teams.

But opportunities to compete can be lacking for girls in smaller associations, with fewer players in certain age groups, she said.

"When you put them into that critical mass and you're able to tier appropriately across the