A group of Central Alberta women are taking girls hockey to a whole new level and have chosen Penhold as the place to do it.
The arena at the Penhold Regional Multiplex has become home ice for the Central Alberta Amazons, a women's junior hockey team.
Playing in a league equivalent to the men's Alberta Junior Hockey League, the Amazons are a team of 17-21-year-old women who are looking for a competitive league to continue onto after they graduate from midget hockey.
The Alberta Junior Female Hockey League (AJFHL) is only in its second year of operation but already has nine teams, a number which is expected to increase next season.
The creation of the league was a longtime coming and there has been a need for a women's junior league for a while, said Valerie Gill, head coach of the Amazons and one of the people who helped in starting the AJFHL.
"Last year we finally got (the league) up and running and it has done well, it has been even better than we expected as far as competition and the level of play," said Gill.
"This is pretty exciting for me, I played in the Canada Winter Games in 1991, the first year that women's hockey was part of the games, and now there is just so much more opportunity for young girls."
The Amazons are named after a well known local female hockey team that took the Alberta and National Championships in 1934 and 1935.
The Amazons ended the regular season with a record of 15-5, ranking first in the south division. They competed in the third game of the division playoffs last weekend, taking a 4-3 victory in an overtime shootout against Lethbridge clenching the South Division title.
The Amazons will now play off against Spruce Grove, the North Division champions for the chance to earn themselves the AJFHL title.
"It has been a good fast paced game all season," said Gill, adding she hopes the Amazons can build a strong organization in Central Alberta.
"There are a lot of midget girls teams in Central Alberta to feed into the program ... we are trying to build a strong organization of young girls."
Some of the girls on the team are still in high school, some are working and some are college students, but all of them are excited to continue to have the chance play high level hockey in Central Alberta, said organizers.
"It has been good competition. It gave me a good idea of how good you have to be to play college hockey playing against the older girls," said Cassandra Kirkham, one of the players on the Amazons.
Kirkham is an 18-year-old Grade 12 student at Innisfail Junior Senior High School. This is her first year on the team but she was an affiliate member last year.
Kirkham hopes to keep playing but is not sure what she wants to do after school and will continue to look at her options.
Last year the Amazons practiced and played wherever ice was available, but once they heard that Penhold was building a Multiplex they were one of the first groups to sign up for regular ice time, said Tracy Leiper, team manager for the Amazons.
The girls all pay their own way but have received a few donations from the community since being in Penhold.
"We love it here. The facility is fabulous and the community has been really supportive."
