Stars helping to grow girls hockey throughout Lone Star State

Girls hockey is growing in Texas.
Now, like everything else, the COVID-19 pandemic slowed things down, but a recent grant from the Industry Growth Fund that is run through a collaboration between the NHL and the NHL Players Association should help a great deal.
The IGF Fund was started in 2013 to help NHL teams grow the game of hockey in their respective areas, and the Stars have used the fund in the past to help fund the Extreme Team, a traveling group that helps introduce hockey at schools and small gatherings, and Little Rookies, a free program that allows young players to try hockey for the first time.
This year, a great deal of the fund will go to help young girls either start playing or take the next step.

"We applied this year for the girls, because of the talent we have here and because we want to expand opportunities," said Damon Boettcher, senior vice president of StarCenter facilities. "We just feel this is the time to be doing that."
The Dallas Stars Elite Program won the national high school championship in Minnesota in 2019, and players at the highest level continue to make progress in North Texas. But the IGF grant should be able to create opportunities for younger players that will help feed the elite programs in the future.
"We have partnered with the Stars Elite Program to build what you would call a bridge program," said Allysen Weidner, assistant director of youth hockey development for the Stars. "We have girls who are maybe not quite ready to play travel, and in the past, they didn't have a place to play. But this year we do hope to have three teams, and now we have this IGF fund from the NHL, and our goal is to grow the grassroots part."
Weidner grew up in Kansas and had to play against boys to forge her path to college hockey at RPI. Alana Mathews, the Stars' executive vice president of business operations and general counsel, grew up in Pennsylvania and also had to play against boys. Both women say they believe that creating a smoother path could help more girls get involved and enjoy the sport.
Matthews' brothers played, so her mom pushed for her to be able to compete on the boys' teams.
"It really taught me self-confidence and believing in myself," she said. "Watching my mom, it taught me to push for inclusion and not accept that the lack of opportunity was the only answer. All of these girls who get to play now, they have advocates and they know that they have the opportunity to play if that's what they want, and that wasn't always the case."
Weidner said the dynamic of girls playing against girls is both relaxing and empowering -- especially when players are getting on the ice for the first time. She said that the Stars started "Jamborees" last year and allowed girls to interact with other girls of different ages, and it created an environment where all the girls could learn.
She said another big part of the process has simply been offering ice time to girls for jamborees, Little Rookies or just practice.
"Last year, they started to get their own ice," Weidner said. "When it came to StarCenters, there weren't practices for girls. But last year, we started girls' jamborees, which were open to all levels. It gave them ice time of their own. We went through skills and drills
"So we had girls who would participate in the free rookies programs and then jump into these jamborees. That gave them a bit of a more structured practice with girls who they might feel more comfortable with," Weidner added. "Due to the nature, sometimes girls are intimated by the boys, and that helped take away that hurdle. So if they liked the sport, then we would try to get them onto teams and that could continue their development."
Part of the IGF grant will be to fund leagues and help defray the cost of equipment and ice time. In addition, it would be nice if the volunteer coaches could get stipends. Weidner said there are women who have grown up playing hockey in the Stars system, have gone off to college, and are now back in the area. That forms a large part of the coaching pool.
"There are a lot of girls who grew up playing here and they want to help," Weidner said. "They played here and they went off to college and now they're back and they have jobs, and they want to volunteer. But what I would need from a coach, that's a full-time job in itself. So, hopefully, some of this grant money would go to helping girls coach full time."
The Stars are hoping to start an all-girls league in addition to the bridge program. They basically want to do everything they can to make sure girls get the same opportunities as boys.
"I definitely think Damon Boettcher and the StarCenter group have focused on how to make the sport accessible," said Matthews. "There are some hurdles, but they are committed to growing the game in our marketplace. They're thinking through the things that would help parents or help the young girls, because I know how much of a sacrifice it can be for the parents."
Boettcher said the first step could help lead to a career in hockey for some girls.
"There are unused scholarships for women in college, and they don't know how to even get started," he said. "So what we would like to do is find the talent and introduce it to the sport and see if the passion is there. If it is, then there is plenty of opportunity to really take the next step here."
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika, and listen to his podcast.