Expanding the ice: Moses Lake hockey event helps introduces girls to the game

MOSES LAKE — Women and girls of all ages spent their Monday morning flying around the Moses Lake Ice Rink, with varying levels of success. Veteran players came for a free afternoon of hockey, while others worked to get their skates under them as they try out a new sport for the first time.

In its second year, Play Hockey Like a Girl is an event put in place to try and help deal with a driving issue in women’s hockey, recruiting and maintaining players. This event, sponsored by the Moses Lake Adult Hockey Association, provided a chance for women and young girls to learn, and try the game out with experienced coaches and players.

Rachel Applebaum, a Level 3 USA Hockey coach, taught the lessons after recently finishing an all-female development camp for USA Hockey. Applebaum, out of Boise, Idaho, travels the country, coaching and providing lessons.

Equipment was provided by the Moses Lake Adult Hockey Association as participants took part in drills and scrimmages on the ice.

Ryan Chism and his family were on the side of the ice as Chism’s daughter Baylee made her way across the rink on Monday. Both Baylee and her brother play in the youth hockey league where, through the grapevine, Chism had heard the event was returning this year.

“She was playing parks and rec hockey also, so she was used to hockey and used to the whole environment too,” Chism said. “She kind of picked it up pretty quick. It’s just a great deal.”

Chism said the event is a “fantastic setup” that gives a great way to spend the day in the wintertime.

Moses Lake Recreation Supervisor Tom Los helped create this event after noticing girls dropping off the teams as they got older in the local youth leagues. As girls left to pursue other sports or interests, the one or two that were left, Los said, would decide to leave seemingly just when another girl would show up.

Los said he thinks the most they’ve had at one time in the adult league is four. In addition to the gap between men and women in both leagues, gear and equipment can make the sport costly to begin.

“It’s a relatively expensive sport to get into,” Los said. “Not only do you have to know how to play hockey, but you have to know how to skate too.”

Los said he’s watched hockey all his life and, by college, had decided he was tired of watching and wanted to learn the game.

“I’d only skated once in my life when I started taking lessons,” he said.

After college, Los said he wanted to move somewhere that he could have the chance to play hockey. Since Moses Lake didn’t have a rink at the time, Los said he looked elsewhere. After discovering in the notes of a city council meeting that a new rink had been approved in his hometown, Los decided to come back.

Los began working with the new rink before it had even opened, making sure everything was ready for the unveiling. The recreation supervisor said he’s been closely involved with the rink ever since.

“I was out here rink-guarding, not really knowing how to skate, and learning,” Los said. “This is kind of one of my passions. I’m a referee, I play in the adult league and I have a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, which is another reason why I wanted this because I wanted there to be girls hockey so that she enjoys it when she gets older.”

Los said he’s hoping his daughter can join him and his wife out on the rink next year. Los said his wife enjoys coming out to the rink, looking at the event as “a free skating lesson with pads.”

Los and his wife had recruited a number of their other friends to come out and join them on the ice as well on a chilly, Monday morning.

With this event, the Moses Lake Recreation Supervisor said this event simply provides people a chance to try something new that they might not otherwise get the chance to.

“At Parks and Rec, one of our goals is just to get people trying new things, get people out and having fun and also provide it where it’s affordable,” Los said. “You can’t get any more affordable with so many people bringing gear down. And it’s paid for.”

This year’s turnout for the event was roughly on par with last winter, with about 30 girls of all ages coming out to participate. Los said it’s great to see that, of the girls who came out, most aren’t a part of the girls’ hockey association already.

While he didn’t have specific numbers, Los said he knows the Moses Lake Youth Hockey Association said they had new girls who tried out the game last year at the event and decided it was something they wanted to continue.

Los said he doesn’t want to put pressure on anyone to continue to pursue the game, and said it’s just cool seeing people come out and try something new, even if they never return.

Casey McCarthy can be reached by email at cmccarthy@columbiabasinherald.com.