National women's hockey championship coming to N.L. for first time

Maddie Ryan · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 06, 2025 2:43 PM EST | Last Updated: March 6

At a property league dominated mostly by men, the municipality of Conception Bay South and the metropolis of Mount Pearl announced that nonrecreational women's hockey is coming to town.

The Hockey Canada tourney adds to an already packed 2025, which the Newfoundland and Labrador authorities has declared the province's Year of the Sport.

The maturation of women's hockey successful Newfoundland and Labrador has spiked truthful overmuch successful the past fewer years that "we tin hardly support up with the demand," said Christa Skinner, co-chair of the organizing committee. 

"The girls privation to beryllium a portion of what's predominantly been a boy, male-dominated sport," she said.

This volition beryllium the archetypal clip the U18 National Women's Hockey Championship volition beryllium held successful N.L., and Skinner said hosting elite athletes successful eastbound Newfoundland volition springiness young women thing to aspire to.

Arts and tourism curate Steve Crocker hopes the tourney — moving from Nov. 3-8 — volition pull visitors from crossed the state during a dilatory play for hotels and restaurants.

The state committed $30,000 to the lawsuit done Celebrate N.L., according to Crocker, who said it's an accidental for radical to bring economical maturation to towns extracurricular of St. John's.

Mount Pearl politician David Aker echoes the excitement of bringing apical athletes from "Canada's game" to his city. He said Mount Pearl has a bully way grounds of hosting shot tournaments and different events.

Aker is assured the women's hockey title volition gully volunteers adjacent aft the Canada Games — which needs about  5,000 volunteers successful much than 150 antithetic roles implicit 30,000 shifts to screen each the events.

"I look guardant to the time wherever the nether 18 teams — many of those radical that are coming present — become portion of Team Canada," said Aker. "You're going to spot the champion players successful this state travel to CBS and travel to Mount Pearl."

Darrin Bent, politician of Conception Bay South, is thrilled to co-host immoderate elite-level hockey.

"I judge that it volition assistance animate a procreation of pistillate hockey players present astatine location to scope the adjacent level, to deepen their emotion of the game," helium said.

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