Women’s ice hockey numbers up by a third

Thursday, 8 August 2024

The Canterbury Inferno women’s ice hockey team in action against the Dunedin Thunder team.

For Emma Kloss, the thing she likes the most about ice hockey is the physicality of the game.

The Canterbury Inferno women’s team captain says the game in New Zealand has developed a lot in the 10 years she has been a member of the team.

In Canterbury, women make up nearly a quarter of the 559 players, a number that has been rising since 2020.

As of 2023, 123 women played ice hockey in Canterbury, an increase of 30% since 2020.

The Canterbury Inferno play in the New Zealand Women's Ice Hockey League, which consists of four regional franchises competing across the country in winter.

The game had become “a lot more physical, a lot more challenging and a lot faster”, Kloss said. She believed the sport’s physicality drove people to get into it, as it made the game “a little bit more interesting”.

Eve (who asked to be referred to by her first name) is a part of the learn to play programme and has always been interested in the sport. She used to ice skate a lot as a kid and would watch the ice hockey players with intrigue.

In 2020, as New Zealand was exiting the first Covid-19 lockdown, Sky started broadcasting the North American National Hockey League (NHL) and Eve was captivated by the “graceful yet violent” nature of the game.

Being a high-energy, high-demand sport attracted Eve into trying it for herself.

Women make up about a quarter of the 559 ice hockey players in Canterbury, a number that has grown in recent years.

She found other team sports “lacklustre” with a lot of dead time, whereas in hockey “there’s no dead time”.

“You’re either on the bench trying to catch your breath, or you’re on the ice trying to make a play.”

Canterbury Inferno coach Matthew Sandford has been playing and coaching ice hockey for 20 years.

“It’s really, really good to see the growth and just seeing things happen,” he said, noting the growth in the women’s game locally had been replicated nationally.

Canterbury Inferno coach Matthew Sandford says the success of New Zealand’s international teams such as the Ice Ferns has been good for the growth of the game.

Canterbury Ice Hockey Association (CIHA) president and learn to play director Tom Fontaine said part of the reason behind the growth was “a nationwide effort to raise awareness of our sport”.

As well as promoting the sport, efforts had been made to lower the barriers to entry.

Adults wanting to learn needed a minimal amount of gear, he said.

“Basically, skates which you can hire from the rink, and then we can arrange to have a helmet and a stick and so forth.”

Canterbury Inferno players celebrate after scoring one of three goals in a victory over Dunedin.

The CIHA wanted the sport’s growth to continue.

To those thinking of taking up ice hockey, Fontaine said “just like everything in life, just get out there and try it once, and see whether you like it”.

The Canterbury Inferno next play the Wakatipu Wild in Queenstown on August 23, which will be livestreamed online.

Visit www.ciha.org.nz to find out more.