The number of girls registered for hockey in Manitoba has surged over the last two years as the sport gains popularity, and high-level role models on the ice are considered one reason.

The number of girls who registered for Under-7 to Under-18 Manitoba hockey teams grew from 4,901 players in the 2023-24 season to 5,517 players this season — an increase of nearly 13 per cent, Hockey Manitoba CEO Trevor Buhnai told CBC News.

Charlee Nelson, a player on the U9 Winnipeg East Stars girls team, said she’s starting to see more girls her age play hockey.

“You meet new friends each time you’re on a team,” Charlee said after a game at Winnipeg’s Varsity View Sportsplex on Sunday.

Charlee says she’s excited to watch the Ottawa Charge and the Montreal Victoire face off at Canada Life Centre on Sunday, especially with Manitoba Olympian Jocelyne Larocque set to hit the ice. The game is part of the Professional Women Hockey League’s Takeover Tour.

“It’s my first PWHL [game] that’s, like, live,” she said.

Taylor Homenick, who has coached hockey for about a decade, says the entire East Stars team is going to Sunday’s game.

She says the PWHL gives young girls “something to dream for.”

“I grew up where only boys were able to play, and we had our own change rooms that were made out of broom closets. So, it’s really great that they have the team spirit around them,” Homenick said.

“It’s pretty great when you can see a strong female influence doing the best they can for the girls. It’s super great for the game.”

It also means a lot for the parents who grew up playing with the boys because of the lack of all-girls teams, Homenick said.

“Now, we have girls who can follow this sport into college or beyond and do the things that dreams are made of,” she said.

“To see that on a full ice, with an arena full of people cheering them on, that’s pretty lovely.”

PWHL ‘a complete game changer’

Jayna Hefford, the PWHL’s executive vice-president of hockey operations, said she thought a future in hockey was unrealistic for her when she was a kid because she could only see men playing.

“That’s a tough thing for kids to process. Having my own kids, daughters and a son, I never want them to feel like they are limited because of their gender,” she said.

“Now, to have young girls be able to easily look up [and] watch these women playing hockey, is a complete game changer for any young girl interested in the game.”

Half of Canadian girls drop out of organized sports by the time they’re 17, according to the organization Canadian Women and Sport.

Hefford said it’s important to keep kids in sports for as long as possible.

“We’ve, you know, seen all the research around what sport does for young kids in terms of character development, in terms of confidence, of course, health — both physical and mental, and so we want to keep kids in sport as long as we can,” she said.

“It’s not always about playing in the professional leagues, but it’s about being active, becoming a fan, and perhaps for some of them, becoming a professional athlete.”

Building skill, community

The PWHL also creates opportunities for women beyond the rink, including in leadership, medical roles, support staff and media, Hefford said.

Hockey mom, coach and former player Chelsea Lewis organizes the She Started Here hockey event in her community of MacGregor, Man. The development camp aims to inspire the next generation of female players.

MacGregor had no all-girls hockey teams until last year. Lewis says the town now has enough players for two all-girls teams, one Under-9 and the other Under-15, with players coming from multiple rural communities.

A third team is on the horizon, Lewis said.

“To have three all-girls teams, that’s amazing. We’re so proud of that,” she told CBC News on Thursday.

The development camp shows “the girls who are starting now what’s possible, even in a rural town,” as well as “not only the skill set that can come, but also the community around it,” Lewis said.

There are challenges that come with playing in rural communities, as Lewis says they need teams to play against that aren’t based too far away. Rink time is hard to come by with the growing number of players in the region.

“Our rinks serve a lot of different teams, and it’s just hard to accommodate everybody.”

As a former player, Lewis says it’s exciting to see the growth.

“I think so many of us … are now having kids and getting the sport up and going again,” she said.

“The excitement behind the sport is so contagious.”