The effort to encourage more girls to play hockey is continuing.

They have the option to play competitively, or simply for the fun of it.

It’s an opportunity for girls just to try out the game, to see if they like it.

The need for such a program was recognized a couple of years ago when local coaches saw girls dropping out because they weren’t comfortable playing on house league teams dominated by boys.

The answer was the creation of a girls-only ice time, a program designed to provide a more comfortable atmosphere for girls to enjoy the game, dabble in hockey and develop their skills, if that’s their goal.

“Girls Ice in the last couple of years has really been on the rise,” said Pat Tobler, co-ordinator of the program and coach.

And he’s doing it all again this year, though interest from other coaches also seems to be on the rise, just like the program.

Tobler said when you have two girls on a team dominated by boys, they tend to hang out together, to isolate themselves from the rest of the team.

When you have an all-girls team, the social experience is entirely different, he said.

Tobler said girls who want to play more competitively are still welcome to come out for Girls Ice, and are encouraged to do so.

His 12-year-old daughter likes the competitive aspect of the game, and participates in Girls Ice and minor house league. His 10-year-old, on the other hand, is content just to go out and have a skate, and have fun with the game of hockey.

The Girls Ice program is offering an ice time for tykes, novice, atoms and other beginners once a week on Saturday afternoons from 4:15 to 5:15, beginning Sept. 22.

The program for intermediate girls of mostly the pee wee age runs every Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30, also beginning Sept. 22.

And there is still the female Mustangs program for more advanced players. The select team plays in the Whitehorse Minor Hockey Bantam House League, and participates in tournaments.

The Girls Ice program, Tobler explained, is a place for girls not just to have fun with the game but to advance their skills if they choose, to decide if they want to go onto the more competitive levels.

Tobler said they’ll be putting together all-girls teams for exhibition games and tournaments.

Last year, Whitehorse hosted the Female Hockey Weekend Jamboree put on by Hockey Yukon and BC Hockey. Some 50 players attended from the Yukon, Alaska, northern B.C. and the N.W.T.

Tobler estimates there are about 100 girls playing hockey in the Yukon right now, or quite a few more than there used to be just a few short years ago.

And some are reaching higher and higher.

The coach pointed out a couple of young girls have made it down to the wire with the boys Bantam AAA Yukon Rivermen club. They’ll be travelling with the team to Edmonton next month for an evaluation tournament before final selections are made.

One of the girls, goalie Wynne Anderson-Lindsay, dropped out of hockey at the pee wee level because she wasn’t crazy about playing with teams made up of mostly boys.

The girls-only hockey program pulled her back, and now she’s in the mix to be a player with the Rivermen.

Anyone interested in learning more about the Girls Ice program can contact Hockey Yukon or Tobler at ptobler88@gmail.com.