Girls hockey gets high school nod

Ken Johnston
Editor

“She shoots! She scores!”
That will be the newest cry across the area this coming winter when local girls from the Rainy River, Indus and Baudette high schools take to the ice in a sports cooperative featuring girls hockey.
There has been a youth hockey program for RR and Baudette girls for a the past several years. However, with those players getting older they, needed a more competitive venue to strut their stuff on the ice.
Mike Mosher, a coach in the Lake of the Woods Youth Hockey program, informed parents of the push to get approval for the girls hockey program about a month ago.
Athletic Director at Lake of the Woods High School said that the school board asked him to look at the program. “I had to weigh all the options and considering we have been cutting budgets and teaching positions the past three years, I had to justify adding another sport.”
However, in the wash it came out that the board approved the program for a three year period as a self funded program. In other words, the program can move forward with the board’s blessing but it will not get any funding from the board.
Novak said that the team will have to raise its own money for operating, which includes ice rentals, equipment and travelling.
However, girl hockey parents and coaches were already on top of that. The Legion in Rainy River has donated a substantial amount of money to help cover ice rental times in Rainy River.
Novak said that when he researched the possibility of creating a high school girls hockey team that he spoke with a number of other athletic directors in the state. “Most said they created theirs with a leap of faith. Basically if you create it they will come.”
With the sports cooperative between RR, Baudette and Indus for boys high school hockey and youth hockey already it only seemed natural to include girls hockey in that boat. “We needed to that to get the numbers for next year.”
Novak did not have firm numbers for the potential girls program, but said that if the numbers are strong and the team proves its viability the board may look at funding it after three years. There are quite a few teams in other towns, so the LoW Lady Bears will have a good schedule of games.
The girls hockey season starts November 3, 2003. That is two weeks earlier than the boys program so that state finals are different times. The girls state tournament is February 26-28, 2004; and the boys is mid-March.