Light the Lamp

Light the Lamp

HOCKEY LEAGUE HAS PLENTY TO ‘CELLY’ AFTER ONE YEAR ON THE ICE

By Erin Woodiel

Melissa Foley showed up to her first hockey practice in December 2022 wearing the jersey of her hero, Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby.

Despite her lifelong love of hockey, she grew up understanding it to be a boys-only sport, settling for the “girl option” of figure skating into her teenage years. Joining the Kansas City Women’s Hockey League felt like walking through a door that she never thought would be open to her.

By the end of that first practice, 27-year-old Foley came away with two assists, a few bruises, and an ignited passion for the game.

“I got off the ice and threw up because I was skating so hard,” says Foley. “And I said, where do I sign up? When is the next practice?”

Since formally incorporating as a league in May of 2022, the KCWHL has provided women like Foley the opportunity to find themselves and gain confidence while learning a new sport. Team leaders focus their efforts on creating a supportive environment for new players so women of any skill level feel empowered to play.

“Not only is it hockey, which a lot of us believe is the greatest sport in the world, but also, for many women, this is their time out with their girlfriends, taking a break from family life and coming here after work—getting to blow off some steam with friends,” says KCWHL President Maggie Wagner.

Wagner has been embedded in the hockey scene in Kansas City for years. Before the KCWHL, she played with a loosely organized group of women whose seasons often got canceled partway through due to a lack of funding. When yet another season came to an untimely end in February of 2022, the group knew something had to change.

“We thought that the women hockey players of Kansas City deserved better,” says Wagner.

It’s now been over a year since the creation of the league, and Wagner calls it a “crucial” addition to Kansas City athletics.

“A lot of adult women grew up in a time when girls playing hockey were not as supported as they are these days,” she says. “There’s been a lag in opportunities for women, and we’re trying to step in and close that gap.”

While there are games against local men’s recreation teams and other women’s teams across the region, the KCWHL isn’t about winning games. Instead, it’s about developing skills and a love of the game.

During practices, new players learn to skate with confidence and handle a puck. Scrimmages provide opportunities to better understand the rules of hockey before hitting the ice in a real game.

Wagner says that through coaching new players, she realized learning hockey is like having to learn two sports at once. Skating is its own challenge to master, let alone stick handling, shooting, and passing. It makes her all the more proud when she sees her fellow players shine.

“We see players start from having absolutely zero experience, and every single week, they really tend to improve pretty rapidly,” she says. “We definitely see increases in confidence, even from the very beginning. They’re just having a blast.”

As a way to further instill confidence in the least experienced among them, the team has built the habit of specifically noting players’ improvement during postgame locker room talk. Maybe someone was skating three times faster than she was a month ago, or another started implementing a new defensive strategy. By naming the progress these women make each game, team leaders hope it will show how much they are appreciated and keep them coming back.

Foley says that level of encouragement and validation from her teammates was the key to her falling in love with hockey. The focus isn’t on winning games or who is the fastest or strongest. It’s about building relationships and finding joy.

“We’re here to learn,” says Foley. “We’re here to get better. We’re here to pump each other up and make sure that, at the end of the game, we’re all still happy and smiling.”

Jimmy Petersen, recreation director at Line Creek Community Center and Ice Arena, teaches a how-to-play-hockey course on the ice Tuesday nights. His focus for the last 17 years in Kansas City has been on growing the game, and he acknowledges that women’s hockey has been long underserved.

“The benefit that Kansas City women’s hockey has provided for hockey and women in this area is just immeasurable,” Petersen says.

Since the start of the KCWHL, he says he’s seen a lot of women attending his class. Even if they start out timid, he says, before long, the women are going toe-to-toe with the men.

“There’s such a vast array of ability levels, and the camaraderie is incredible,” he says. “It lends itself to helping each other become better.”

Foley says the support from men like Petersen at Line Creek has been “life-changing.” They ensure a consistent ice time for the women’s league, help maintain equipment, and cheer them on at games. That connection to the hockey community at large is an important piece of validation.

Foley remembers playing in her first-ever hockey game with the league, when the nerves that nearly prevented her from showing up to the ice only increased as she saw that their opponents were a team of men.

She voiced her surprise, to which her teammates replied, “What, did you think there was another team of women who play hockey around here?”

She came nose-to-nose with a large male player who asked her, “Is this your first game?” She said yes, and he responded, “You’re doing freaking great, kid.”

They still joke about this moment months later, now that Foley says she can “skate circles around” other players.

“When I go out there, I don’t want you to just see who I am as a woman,” she says. “I want you to see who I am as a hockey player.”

The biggest obstacle Wagner sees to starting in hockey is the cost. The KCWHL charges regular fees for ice time, and the equipment alone is a large expense for prospective players. To counteract this, the league has a large equipment library where any woman can borrow what they need for a few practice sessions, completely free of charge.

“We want them to just be able to show up and try it,” Wagner says. “They’re figuring out if this is for them.”

Showing up to try hockey has worked for dozens of women since the league’s founding. Both Wagner and Foley formed strong friendships amongst their teammates that extend beyond the ice. They say there’s something special about the bonds formed on the ice that can’t be easily replicated in other environments. They feel a responsibility to clear the path so more women can feel that same rush.

“As a matter of principle, we just love hockey, and we want other women to see what it’s all about,” Wagner says. “And have the chance to really love playing hockey too.”

The KCWHL encourages and accepts new members at any time of the year. Practices and scrimmages run Saturdays at 5 p.m. at the Line Creek Community Center, with games and other learning opportunities set throughout the schedule.