Scotiabank Girls HockeyFest brings out hundreds of young players in Halifax

A Scotiabank Girls HockeyFest event took place in Halifax over the weekend aimed at helping young players hit the ice.

The travelling, free event series gives girls aged seven-to-14 the opportunity to learn from some of the top hockey players in the country.

Young girls received pointers from Team Canada’s 2002 captain and two-time Olympic gold medalist Cassie Campbell-Pascall at the Scotiabank Centre on Sunday.

“We’ve travelled all across the country introducing young girls to the game of hockey maybe for the first time or getting group from different areas, provinces, together for the very first time,” said Campbell-Pascall.

Around 300 children participated in the latest event.

Cassie Campbell-Pascall speaks to young hockey players in Halifax on March 3, 2024.

“Here, I learned how to stickhandle, pass the ball and I learned how to skate backwards and I learned how to skate better,” said Kendall, a participant.

“You get to learn about hockey and all the gear and you get to go on to the ice and play and you also get to do a little bit of ball hockey,” said another participant named Harper. “It’s a really fun sport and it gets you active.”

Halifax’s event was the second of the latest Scotiabank Girls HockeyFest season.

“We usually do around six-to-eight. This year, we’re going to do six. So we’ve been in Edmonton already, we’re heading to Winnipeg, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver. So we’ll be all across the country,” said Campbell-Pascall.

London, a teenaged participant, said the event is a “great opportunity” to learn from fellow female players and coaches.

“Why I love hockey is because women didn’t usually get the choice to play sports and I love how they now have the choice to play sports, so I play other sports too. And hockey is just like, amazing,” she said.

A Scotiabank Girls HockeyFest event was held in Halifax on March 3, 2024.

Scotiabank Canada says more than 17,000 children have participated in the program since 2006, including a young girl named Nymaya.

“I like doing hockey a lot,” she said. “It’s really fun, so you should try it.”

With files from CTV Atlantic's Valentine Nkengbeza.

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