Hockey is a sport that is usually thought of more as a boy's sport.
It is a rough game and it's no surprise when a fight breaks out on the ice, but hockey has been gaining popularity in girls' athletics. Even at Miami University, there is a women's club team.
The interest is starting at a young age, and girls around the Butler County area are playing in the Butler County Youth Hockey Association (BCYHA).
The BCYHA is a hockey association that serves the Butler County area and children of all ages. All of the teams practice in Oxford at the Goggin Ice Center, but they are not associated with Miami.
"We've grown quite a bit the past few years," Ron Spaulding, BCYHA board president, said. "We have about 100 players and a total of seven teams including the high school club team. Just back in 2007 we only had three teams."
The youngest of the teams that BCYHA has is the 9 and 10 year olds that play on the squirts. Next come the peewees, and then the bantam level, which is the 13 and 14 year olds. Then, it goes to the high school level, and the Butler County high school club team is a part of the BCYHA.
This year, there are five girls playing through BCYHA, three on the high school club team and two playing on bantam teams.
"What's really interesting, and I hope it's true with other places, is that the girls really fit in really well," Spaulding said.
Spaulding said contact begins at the young age groups at BCYHA, but all-girl teams don't have contact.
"The girls who play with us are stronger because they do the same drills the boys do, they're involved in the games where there is checking, so the girls that we have are pretty tough," he said.
Derek Felici is the head coach of the Butler County high school club team and currently has three girls on his team, junior Sydney Bell, sophomore Morgan Blank and freshman Samantha Hannon.
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Hannon said playing with the boys has its advantages.
"With all-girls teams you can't check, and with the boys it's really physical," Hannon said. "I like the physical part of hockey."
This is the second year of having girls play on the team.
"They're definitely contributing to our success, we're having a great year," Felici said. "They are three of the hardest-playing hockey players regardless if they're girls or not, and the most coachable players on the team. We're lucky to have them."
Felici said all three of the girls have a high chance of playing Division I college hockey. Bell is currently in the process of looking at schools and hockey teams.
"I want to play Division I in college," Bell said. "The process is really exciting, but stressful at the same time. I've had a handful (of schools) that have contacted me, so that's exciting and knowing that they are going to be watching me at tournaments is exciting."
Bell, Blank and Hannon also play on a Triple A league travel team based in Pittsburgh.
"They just go to showcases, so they play at a really high level for girls hockey, but they really like playing with the guys," Felici said. "It really makes them better players and they can handle strong high school guys. When they play with girls, it's easier for them."
Bell has been playing hockey since she was four and said it has always been her favorite sport. She loves being able to play on a team with boys and another team of all girls.
"They're completely different, but they're the same," Bell said. "I enjoy both. I just love the sport so much, I don't care where or how I'm playing it."
Christie Gray, 13, and Brooke Spencer, 14, are the two girls playing on the bantam level teams.
Gray has been playing for seven or eight years and got into hockey because she has older brothers who play.
She said it's fun to hit the boys, but her favorite thing about hockey is the teamwork. She plays right wing for the bantam A team.
Spencer is the only girl goalie on an all-boys team.
She has been playing hockey for two years and became interested in hockey after her dad took her to a Cincinnati Cyclones minor league hockey game. Spencer plays on the bantam B team.
With a growing interest in hockey from girls, Spaulding said this is the first year BCYHA will have a girls hockey camp during the summer.
The camps are run through Miami, and this is the first year that there has been enough interest.
"It's still a growing sport as far as girls are concerned, and I hope that more and more parents get girls on their skates and that they will like it," Spaulding said.
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