Moncton school should have tried harder to save girls' hockey team, say players

Some students at Harrison Trimble High School in Moncton say the school could have done more to save its girls' hockey team.

The team folded this fall because it didn't have a goalie, said Grade 11 student Hannah Wilson and Grade 12 student Lila Martin, who had each been playing hockey for about eight years and were devastated by the loss.

Harrison Trimble's former team goalie left the school team to play at a more competitive level this year. 

The school tried for a few weeks to fill the necessary positions, but there weren't enough players, said a prepared statement from the Anglophone East School District, which declined a CBC request for interviews with Harrison Trimble's athletics director, principal and superintendent. 

According to Wilson and Martin, the remaining players put forward a couple of possible solutions that were both rejected.

One of their teammates offered to change positions to goaltender, but that was deemed to be a safety risk to her, said the girls.

A goalie from another school was interested in playing after she didn't make the cut for her own school team, but that didn't fly either, they said.

Wilson and Martin said they and their teammates were left feeling frustrated and shortchanged.

"I think the boys' team has a lot more organization and support behind them," Martin said. 

Many teachers "love" to go to the boys' games, Wilson said.

"It's very built up in our school and our community and unfortunately it's just not the same around the girls. … [The boys] got new jerseys, etc. … It took us up until last year to get new jerseys. … Before that, we just wore the boys' old jerseys," she said.

"It was like we were a shadow of the boys," said Martin.

Small inequities add up to send a negative message to girls about their place in sport, said Allison Sandmeyer-Graves, CEO of Canadian Women in Sport.

Girls are participating in sport more than ever, but the rate is still lower than it is for boys, she said.

A "tremendous opportunity" exists to expand access, but it won't happen by accident, she said.

A good question to keep asking is what is being done to keep girls in sport and take down barriers that are shutting them out, Sandmeyer-Graves said.

"If we listen to the girls, which I think is a great place to start, what they want is sport leaders who are trained on how to foster belonging and programs that are designed for girls and supportive of diversity and inclusion," she said.

Information Morning - Moncton11:01Some girl high school hockey players in Moncton have been sidelined for the season

Harrison Trimble High School decided to fold its women's hockey team this fall after the team was unable to find a goalie.

"We need a group of strong people who will support us and push for our team," Martin said.

"As a girls' team, we're very vulnerable," she said.

Schools have equity obligations, Sandmeyer-Graves added.

The New Brunswick Interscholastic Athletic Association said it's interested in working with teams to make sure it's promoting equity.

Wilson and Martin are taking issue with an NBIAA policy they say seems inappropriate for their team's situation.

It bans the practice of poaching players from other schools. 

The girls said that should only apply when there's an abundance of athletes and an actual risk of a school stacking its team with elite players. 

It doesn't make sense given there are so few goalies in girls' hockey, they said.

"It had nothing to do with being good," said Wilson. "We just wanted our team."

For now, Wilson is playing in a house league in Dieppe. It's not as competitive as the school league, she said, but she's having fun.

Martin didn't want to join another team and ended up quitting hockey, joining the ranks of one in five girls who drop out of sports by the time they turn 16.