how do other women get started in in-line hockey?

[speedbump]

I'm very new to in-line hockey, but not to skating.

I got started skating 33 years ago (when I was two and small enough for my mother to hold between her legs), but I got started with in-line hockey only a few months ago. I was invited to join a pick up game one day by a couple of guys leaving the court when I was coming down. I was going to practice speed skating and to hit the puck by myself. Because I am small, I was reluctant to take the risk of playing with others, but the guys were very encouraging, describing their game as ?gentle?. The next week I let the good weather suck me over and gave it a try.

I really, really enjoyed it! Since then I've played regularly, although sometimes I get very nervous about losing in a momentum competition when new players join us. (I?ve only met one other woman there so far.)

When I tell my other friends that I've been doing this they are alarmed and tell me to quit. They say the sport?s too violent. When I tell my husband that I really want to go and I?m not sure if it?s a good idea, he says, ?Go, go, go??

So here?s my question. When I first joined the outdoor group I learned about a women?s pickup game that was getting started at a local indoor hockey rink. I emailed first to find out what gear was required. It was more than I expected, and I was reluctant to spend so much without knowing what it would be like.

I decided to go and watch. I was very nervous because I expected that women who would have the gear would have to be serious players. I figured I would be lucky if I could keep up. It turned out not to be the case at all! Most of the players were still getting comfortable with skating, in addition to stick and puck. Then I wondered, ?What must have drawn them to in-line hockey??

I didn?t get a chance to ask. I left before they finished that night. I just couldn?t see investing so much in equipment to play a slower game than the one I was playing outdoors. I left wondering, though, how they had decided to make the commitment and the investment, what had made them get hooked.

For me I started figure skating and watched the hockey players get ready when we would leave the ice. A couple of summers ago I got a chance to hit the puck on roller blades with an experienced ice hockey player, and then I got to play road hockey once. I was hooked even though I discovered that I was likely too small to play safely with many other adults. (I ricochet a little easily.) I could at least enjoy hitting the puck by myself.

Well, so far the only injury I?ve done is to my neck from looking down at the puck too much. Other than that all collisions have been little mild ones. I still feel nervous that at some point a veteran won?t like that I?m keeping up and will want to take advantage of my size vulnerability. Until then I indulge my desire to take risks.

So I?m wondering how do other women get started, and what keeps them going, too?

[DannyG]

Women, especially those who might consider taking up the game and be learning-as-adults, get into the game for exactly the same reasons as the men...

For me (male), this sport is a unique badge of distinction...how many of your friends can say they play? You alone hold the honor within your peer group, from what you have told us.

Caitlin is in middle school, about to advance to high school in the 9th grade...I guarantee that everybody, of the 1100 students in the school, know who she is, and they know that she's the girl who plays hockey at a high level. It is indeed her badge of distinction.

Other adult males, as well as females, in our locale, also just like the ability to say, "I play hockey, I am a hockey player."

I re-started playing this childhood game (ice) on wheels at the age of 43. I am now 52 years old. I skate every day. I teach the game, coach, and administrate the local program as a recreation professional for a living. I will play this game until the day I leave this life. There is nothing else like it on earth.

There is no violence in inline hockey, neither inherent nor intrinsic to the game...it is skill, creativity, and grace that lend itself to the dynamics of this sport.

Please continue to play at any level you aspire, and don't ever quit. Our sport needs more and more like you.

<font color=purple>DannyG</font color=purple>

[JustaGirl]

For me it was not really a status thing- I grew up as the only girl (in my age group) in my neighborhood with many boys so I just did what they did so i could have friends. We discovered hockey and I loved it. I think if anything, I keep the fact that I play hockey a secret until i get to know someone because of the prejudgement i have excperienced from it. I dont want to be thought of as some bad-ass violent chick- People assumed that i was that was before they got to know me and I hated that. I just love hockey because its fun and it keeps me in shape. I also appreciate the relationships that i have gotten out of it as well as the opportunity to travel. I have been to places all over the continent (often for free) that I would never normally go to and I have hockey to thank for that. I dont really see hockey as an identity- I just like the sport. Keep playin' as long as you enjoy it!!

[keroleen]

I just got started in inline hockey this April 2004. I started off just wanting to play because I have been playing foot hockey for the longest time and wanted to try this. I joined a local league at first just wanting to go in the lowest tier and play but ended up i had to put together a team and manage it.

This is my first year and i have to learn everything. Skating, shooting, stick handling and also the hockey plays. I play on a team and division with all guys. Ive been called a bitch from other teams. Because of the nature of the league play, its probably more of a pyschical play than most of you just starting out playing outside.

I think its been very fun playing. Im not enjoying the management part tho. Meeting new ppl and its just great to get out and forget everything.