submitted by Sturgeon Hockey Club
The Sturgeon Fillies have been forging through their inaugural year. There has been a lot of excitement and ideas for the development and growth of the program. Head Coach, Jennifer Lockridge, has been dedicated to sourcing many opportunities and facing financial barriers that often plague teams. Her hard work paid off mid-October when she received great news on a grant application she submitted to Hockey Alberta.
Hockey Alberta, along with the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation, and the Hockey Alberta Foundation, awarded the Sturgeon Minor Hockey Association with the 2022 Hockey Alberta Member Grant in the amount of $7500.
The grant application was based on the concept of Fillies Development. Essentially, this is to provide hockey development to ALL the females in the community, focusing on female growth of the sport.
“We want to recruit more females to the sport by providing an opportunity for them to try it in a comfortable, encouraging setting,” Lockridge said. “Part of this includes development / ”try hockey” spring id skates/camps in April 2023. Fillies promotional items will be ordered to provide swag bags for all the participants. Contents may include helmet stickers, hats, t-shirts or water bottles. The idea is to promote the female brand and make the participants feel included/special. A portion of the funds will also be used for advertising to ensure all community members are aware of these opportunities.”
Jennifer is as passionate about her team as she is about the game itself.
“We have truly inspirational stories within our team. One of our players is playing hockey while partially blind and can now play with all females,” Lockridge said. “She has been absolutely thriving in this environment. Other players, who had “retired” from the game, have now laced up again. They’ve been loving getting to be a part of a team again.”
President, Gene Connors, was thrilled to receive the news. “Our association is looking forward to growing female hockey within the Sturgeon community. We thank Hockey Alberta, the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation, and the Hockey Alberta Foundation for making this possible.”
