USA Hockey encouraged players, parents, associations and rinks to celebrate Girls Hockey Weekend on Oct. 17 and 18 to build awareness, celebrate current players and grow participation from coast to coast.
They didn't have to tell Shaun Suisham twice.
Suisham Surprises Pens Elite Teams for Girls Hockey Weekend
The former Steelers kicker from Wallaceburg, Ontario - who now coaches his two daughters, Sienna and Stella - spearheaded a surprise event for the DICK'S Sporting Goods Penguins Elite 10U and 12U girls teams at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex on Sunday.
"We try to make every time we're here a fun atmosphere and an event for the girls," Suisham said. "Because we ask a lot of them, we push them hard. And absent fun, sometimes you start to wonder why we're doing this. So we try to mix in fun whenever we can.
"There's a learning curve for some kids and frankly, some parents, that you can have fun while you compete and while you compete at a high level. And today is an example of how we do that."
Suisham and fellow coach Jeff Tindall each have one 10U team and one 12U team, where they share ice and piggyback off each other for the layout of their practices. And between this afternoon's 10U and 12U practices, they hosted a Girls' Hockey Party for all four teams on the ice.
The girls knew something was up once the lights went down, with all of them screaming excitedly.
From there, Suisham introduced Robert Morris University alumnus Brianne McLaughlin-Bittle, a two-time silver medalist with Team USA at the 2010 and 2014 Olympic Games and current goaltending coach for the U.S. women's national team. She wore her Team USA jersey and brought her silver medals, much to the delight of the girls.
Then they had an open skate with McLaughlin-Bittle and Penguins mascot Iceburgh while a hype video played featuring messages from DICK'S Sporting Goods Penguins Elite alumni and current college hockey players Gwyneth Philips and Chayla Edwards.
The party - which also featured plenty of stick taps from the girls - ended with McLaughlin-Bittle leading everyone in a team cheer before they took a group photo.
"It was actually really exciting," said Camilia Mucci, a center for the 12U Tindall Black team. "I did not expect it. Probably just skating around and meeting Brianne was my favorite part. I got to hold her medal."
All in all, it was a wonderful surprise for the girls, whom Suisham can't speak highly enough of.
"It's magical with the kids," Suisham said. "They're awesome humans. I'm grateful I have the opportunity to coach them."
Speaking of magical, that's how Suisham would describe their teams' current situation for a couple of different reasons. The first one is that they now have enough girls to field two competitive hockey teams in each age group.
"We're not just begging kids to play," Suisham said. "We've gotten to the point where we don't have to rely on girls from out of town to come and play in tournaments. It's a big deal for us to really create that team environment, and we're able to do it now with all local kids. That's pretty special."
The second one is that this year, the DICK'S Sporting Goods Penguins Elite organization made a commitment to take the girls' teams from what Suisham called essentially part-time status to full-time status, where they can practice and train just like the boys' teams do.
"The results so far are great," Suisham said. "They are able to now, if they so choose, to play on a girls' hockey team at their competitive level. They don't have to play for a boys' team now. They can play with an all-girls team and compete against boys' and girls' teams."
That's what Teams Suisham and Tindall are doing right now, as they play an independent schedule, which has been helpful in the current climate. Normally, they play a heavy mix of Ontario teams, either in American or Canadian tournaments. But with the border shut down, they have been able to jump into co-ed tournaments closer to home that are predominantly boys' teams.
While it may be somewhat of an adjustment, Suisham appreciates the commitment and dedication from the players and their families during the current climate.
"EMBRACE Pittsburgh sent us booklets that I shared with the girls, and we talked about gratitude," Suisham said. "We talked about how special it is that our parents bring us here and that we're healthy and that we're able to get into hockey rinks and we're able to now play hockey games."
With the girls' ability, they've been doing very well, and Suisham hopes to keep progressing in the right direction while attracting more kids to come out and play.
"The girls are really, truly playing at a high level," Suisham said. "We have a lot of work left to do, but their effort is outstanding. We're trying to create a platform and an opportunity for these ladies to have the experience with sport that I had. Forget about what sport it is - that athletic platform to perhaps go to a school that you never normally would have, be exposed to opportunities you normally wouldn't have otherwise is fantastic. We can use the game of hockey to better prepare our girls to take on the world and have a lot of fun doing it."
