Playing rep hockey on a girls team is a goal for some young female hockey players and Sooke Minor Hockey has stepped up to help keep the dream alive for players throughout the Victoria area.

 Prior to this season the South Island Breakers program provided girls that had the skill and desire a place to play "A" hockey on a female-only team.  It had teams at the Pee Wee, Bantam and Midget levels and gave the players a chance to play at a higher level than would be available in their local house organizations.  It also provided the girls with a chance to compete for a berth at the B.C. Provincial Championships and an opportunity to travel to tournaments on the mainland.

 Early in the summer it was announced that the Breakers program would be folding mainly due to a lack of volunteers and that was disappointing news for alumni players like Tatianna Haggard.

"I played on the Pee Wee Breakers and was sort of sad that I would have to play on a house team because I don't want to be involved in body checking or playing on a boy's rep team."

When it was announced that Sooke Minor Hockey would be putting together a female Pee Wee "A" team, Haggard was very excited, "I was happy because I would be able to try out for a girls rep team and I like the Sooke area," she said.

 Haggard lives in the Juan de Fuca draw zone but was able to try out for the Sooke team because it was opened up for players from other associations.  The opportunity that was  provided to bring skilled hockey players from all over Victoria to play for Sooke was something that Pee Wee head coach Pete White was looking forward to, "I thought it was great for the girls that would make the team," White related. "When you've got a group that's close to the same calibre, you can structure your practice plans around that calibre.  If there is a big disparity in the skill level, it's far tougher to keep the players with the higher skill level challenged."

 The players who ended up making the team include a few players from outside Sooke but most of the core is made up of local talent.  Coach White is thrilled, "I believe that we've got a special group of girls that could be playing hockey together for a long time.  It's pretty exciting!"

 The My Chosen Cafe Pee Wee girls got their first taste of outside competition recently at a tournament in Burnaby.  They ended up winning two of four games and finished in fifth place and that was a good start for the coach.

"Sure, they did a great job," said White. "With the exception of our game on Saturday (a 5-2 loss to Burnaby) I thought the girls played well.  Many of them had never played in an out of town tournament. I think the biggest thing we took away from the tournament was that the girls now have a better feel for what it's like to play at that level."

Haggard was at the same tournament last year with the Breakers who finished first in their division.  She was happy with the effort this year and says the competition keeps getting tougher.

"I think our team had good pressure, we worked well as a team and passed well when people were open," the coach explained.

 Coach White is ready to take the team to the next level, "You have to be prepared for each game.  That means getting your rest, which was a problem, eating properly and eating at the right times.  We'll definitely focus more on these things before we leave for our next tournament."

 All in all White says the future looks bright for the Sooke Pee Wees, "The whole experience was a highlight for these girls.  They will remember it for a long time.  It's all part of their introduction to rep hockey. We now have that experience to build off of."