Two of its teams produced championship banners in the recent Pacific Coast Amateur playoffs and the potential for the Delta Stars is so much more.
That’s the belief of parent volunteer Cate Morrison who is taking over as director of the female hockey program for the upcoming 2022/23 campaign.
The Stars are a division of South Delta Minor Hockey, offering opportunities for female players once they have come through the association’s co-ed initiation levels that concludes at U9.
The Stars iced three teams this past season with the U13 and U18 earning PCAHA banners.
The U11 team stepping on the ice was a huge win in itself given it took some creativity to put the roster together. It all started with Morrison’s post on Facebook last summer looking for potential players to join her daughter Lily.
“I think there were five girls who came up through the initiation program, another three or four from ringette and other associations as well. Then there were a bunch of girls who had actually quit hockey because they didn’t want to play with boys,” explained Morrison. “It ended up being a good selection of skill level and they went on to finish second in their division. It turned out to be a really nice story.”
Morrison would like to see the Stars’ program grow to the point where scrambling to put teams together no longer will be required.
Typically, the stronger girls that come through the initiation program can try out for the SDMHA integrated rep teams or play exclusive girls rep hockey with the nearby Richmond Ravens. Then it comes down to how many girls are left to form a recreational level team. Morrison wants to see those development paths stay within the SDMHA.
Up until now, there has never been a SDMHA female rep team.
“My goal is to keep the girls here and to grow the program significantly. I do think there's an interest in South Delta but I think there a lot of people that don’t know we exist,” said Morrison. “The prerogative is to get more girls in that initiation stage and then they will develop the fundamentals from there.”
Morrison is hopeful easing COVID restrictions will help bring more players onboard as the association can now host free try hockey events. Under the guidance of Delta Stars skills coach Brittany Kirby, an introductory session was held earlier this month and attracted 24 girls. At least a couple of more will take place over the next several weeks with dates yet to be finalized.
Any parent interested in signing up their daughter can reach out to Cate Morrison at: [email protected].
