By Ruling Our Experiences - THE GIRLS’ INDEX™ is the first-ever, large-scale national survey designed to develop a deeper understanding of the thoughts, experiences, perceptions, beliefs, behaviors and attitudes of teen girls throughout the United States. While a plethora of research exists on the economic status, health trends, safety and crime victimization, drug use and risk-behavior of teens, there is little data that delves deeper into the lived experiences of girls and provides the opportunity for girls to share their thoughts and opinions related to a variety of relevant issues currently impacting their lives.

USA Hockey’s Annual Congress was held June 6-9 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The 4-day meeting is attended by representatives from every affiliate across the country, NHL teams’ youth hockey and fan development staff, and USA Hockey’s board of directors and staff. Every year AHAI and IHOA send members of their boards of directors to take part in the meetings as well. Throughout each day various committees met to discuss their areas of responsibility. Daily Town Halls also help set the agenda for the upcoming season. The Girls Section, Youth Council, Coaches Section, Junior Council, and many others gathered to iron out new ideas for growth, rules, support, and programming to help our constituents grow and improve our game as well as ways to keep our players safe. A key rule change for Tier II Girls Hockey was born from these intense discussions:

The rule that was passed for the 2017-18 season did not allow any 12U players to play up on a 14U nationally bound team. This rule now states that for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons for Girls 14U Tier II only, an affiliate can allow up to 3 players that are 12 years of age for the current season as defined by age classification chart to be rostered on a 14U team if the younger players are needed to field that team with a roster size recommended by the ADM or there is no 12U team available in the local geographic area.

AHAI is excited to announce the 8th Year of the A Step aHead Program in conjunction with the Chicago Blackhawks, Athletico Physical Therapy and NorthShore University HeathSystem.

The fourth annual Sports Humanitarian Awards presented by ESPN is a celebration of the impact made by athletes, teams and sports industry professionals who use the power of sport to make a difference throughout the world. 

Olympic Gold Medalists Kendall Coyne, Hilary Knight and Alex Rigsby will be at the Blackhawks Girls Hockey Camp at MB Ice Arena July 23-27! Sign up today to secure your spot! Camp is open to girls ages 5-16 years old. There will be two on-ice sessions per day, off-ice training with TPD and rapid shot, and a jersey, t-shirt, lunch bag and giveaways for every camper. NEW THIS YEAR: Friday is gameday! Morning session will feature small area and cross-ice games, the afternoon session will be a full-ice game.

By GoForesters.com - The 2018-19 season will be the first for Jennifer Wilson as the head coach of the Foresters and seventh working with athletes at the collegiate level. Wilson came to Lake Forest from NCAA Division III Buffalo State, a member of the Northeast Women's Hockey League. The Bengals posted a 13-11-2 overall record in 2017-18, Wilson's first season at the helm of the program. The team was 9-6-1 in conference play and earned a home game in the inaugural NEWHL playoffs by placing second in the standings behind perennial national power Plattsburgh State.

By Tiffany Le, The Nexus - For Rylie Lissebeck, skating on ice feels almost more natural than walking on concrete. But at age 13, her parents pulled her out of competitive ice hockey because body checking was introduced into the male-dominated sport. Under the reasoning that Lissebeck would have been more prone to injury in competitive ice hockey, she turned to smaller leagues that prevented checking. However, the smaller district leagues were not as competitive, leaving Lissebeck craving for something more. And so, in 2014, Lissebeck began officiating the sport as a way to still be involved with ice hockey without physically playing the game.