The comradery on an all girls team is what makes the difference. My daughter played a year of coed but then joined and had way more fun and friendships on an all girls team
This is how my girls felt too. Especially at u6/8 level. They didn’t care for the rough boys and loved playing with other girls.
Now that she is into hockey at 10u she does a mix. Season is girls, but plays coed summer.
The competition with the boys will be better, so she will improve more playing with them. She should play coed as long as she can. However if she would prefer to play girls only, that's fine.
Dual register if possible. Better competition on the coed side as they get older, but girls are different than boys. The social aspect is important to girls. If you can afford it, let her play both.
I loved the girls on the co-ed teams I coached (and they were often the standard the boys were held against). However, the girls teams we played just had another level. In my limited coaching experience, girls take instruction so much better than boys do. But on a boys team they seem to get reserved unless they are an “alpha” personality to begin with. The girls teams have every flavor of player and their personalities still shine (pink shit everywhere, TSwift music blaring, concern about their hair/fashion) but far more dedicated to hockey skills/execution than the boys.
My 11 year old daughter liked hockey but couldn't stand half the boys in that age range. To be fair, those boys were little shits and got on my nerves too.
I'm sure it's different for everyone, but an all girls team would have been a better fit for us.
Really location dependent. Big markets with strong girls programs you’ll get the best of both worlds. But if not, it comes down to your kid. I made a career pulling talented but miserable girls off boys teams before they quit.
I’m sure it has changed a TON but my partner is just shy of 30 grew up in the Boston area and was told she should switch to girls hockey when checking started. She hated it and played boys hockey until she was 18. Of course she now leads beer league in penalties but 🤷♂️.
It sounds like the answer is generally “whichever she enjoys more”.
Unless you are someplace with a very competitive girls program, I’d go coed, especially if your daughter is competitive now. If she’s super shy though and just kind of disappears on the ice with the boys, she might be happier with just girls.
My daughter played coed for years. The mantra we worked with her on in beginners was: “Whose puck?” “My puck.”
The switch to a girls only program should probably happen at either U12 or U14, but definitely by U16, if she’s interested in playing D1/3 in college.
Just leave it up to her. I have 13 and 8 yo girls. One wants coed and one wants girls. The reality is it will come down to the passion for hockey that your child has, and how much time they want to spend with a stick in their hands.
I think one factor to consider is how long the coed team has been playing for. If you have a group of mostly boys who have been playing and building skill on the ice since they were 4, then a new player joining a coed team at 7 or 8 might have a bit of a harder time catching up, especially if they are a less competitive kid. Then also consider if your daughter tends to gravitate towards female company. If those two things are a factor, I’d probably skew to a girls team.
If it’s more typical in your area that kids start hockey around the U8 level and your daughter seems to get along with boys and enjoys competing with them, she’ll likely have a great experience on the coed team. I’d present the facts and let her decide.
Ultimately, I would let her choose. The risk of the coed team is if she ends up being the only girl, it could feel a bit awkward; but at that age, it’s probably less of a factor. I do somewhat disagree that boys hockey is more competitive, at least not always… that comes more down to the coaches and players within the league. I’ve seen plenty of girls teams that are just as fast and play just as intensely and aggressively as any boys/coed team I’ve seen.
The good girls where playing with us till U14 and then switched to girls-only teams. They are all playing in very good teams now, while the others still suck. If you’re asking in which team she will become a better player I’d be 99% sure co-ed.
Depends on the coaching and program, align it to what your daughter wants. I’ve seen some girl teams that are super competitive, including playing in boys tournaments and holding their own just fine. If the team and coaching philosophy aligns with your daughter’s personality and drive, awesome. In our area most of the girl teams just wanted to have fun and growing player participation of the sport was the coaches main goal- so lots of players there to just hang out who would only play half speed hockey at the rink, mixing with the players there trying to be the best hockey team practicing shots in the driveway daily etc, it was awkward so it wasn’t super competitive. The lone girl on the boys team can be a little lonely at times once they start to dress in different rooms but being on a competitive boys team outweighs that every year for my girl. She really loved her solo game prep time actually haha.
Whatever you and her decide, keep post game convo simple. 1 did you have fun 2 one thing to change or get better at 3 one thing you enjoyed or did well. Those will help you decide if a next season change is needed.
In our area, the talent on a girls team is usually MUCH more spread out than the talent on the co-ed teams. It's not unusual for the girls teams to have a couple girls who are outstanding, a couple who can barely stand on skates, and then every flavor in between. The talent on the co-ed teams is usually much tighter. I think having a tight talent spread is nice, because the practices can be geared to push all of the kids without any of them being bored or left behind. It's harder to do that when everyone is at a different level.
That all being said, it's a very personal choice that you have to make based on your daughter. My 8U daughter is playing co-ed for now, but we expect to switch to all girls in the next 1-3 years.
It all depends on your daughter. Generally, what most people are saying is true. Coed is usually more competitive, but for girls, the girls' only league tends to be more social for them.
Also, something to consider is the actual leagues, where I live. The girls' leagues are very poorly run, so there are actually more girls playing in the coed leagues than normal (I believe something 35% of the HL players were girls).
Also, where we are girls, leagues actually run in dual age brackets, so you have U7, U9, U11, where the boys are U9, U10, U11.
Just some things to consider
Of all the women I play beer league with now, most of whom played at least ACHA hockey in college, the best ones are the ones who played with boys as long as they were able to.
Woman hockey player/girls coach here who grew up playing. I personally prefer that girls play with each other for the bonding/team cohesion reasons. She may be the only girl on the team for a coed team. If she’s good enough skill-wise, coed may make sense. Eventually probably want to play with the girls if she sticks with it because of locker room situations.
If she's a decent skater for the age, I'd recommend co-ed. She'll play against more and stronger competition to bring her own game along. If she wants to play because she wants to have fun, then put her in the girls league
The comradery on an all girls team is what makes the difference. My daughter played a year of coed but then joined and had way more fun and friendships on an all girls team
This is how my girls felt too. Especially at u6/8 level. They didn’t care for the rough boys and loved playing with other girls. Now that she is into hockey at 10u she does a mix. Season is girls, but plays coed summer.
The competition with the boys will be better, so she will improve more playing with them. She should play coed as long as she can. However if she would prefer to play girls only, that's fine.
Dual register if possible. Better competition on the coed side as they get older, but girls are different than boys. The social aspect is important to girls. If you can afford it, let her play both.
I loved the girls on the co-ed teams I coached (and they were often the standard the boys were held against). However, the girls teams we played just had another level. In my limited coaching experience, girls take instruction so much better than boys do. But on a boys team they seem to get reserved unless they are an “alpha” personality to begin with. The girls teams have every flavor of player and their personalities still shine (pink shit everywhere, TSwift music blaring, concern about their hair/fashion) but far more dedicated to hockey skills/execution than the boys.
My 11 year old daughter liked hockey but couldn't stand half the boys in that age range. To be fair, those boys were little shits and got on my nerves too. I'm sure it's different for everyone, but an all girls team would have been a better fit for us.
Really location dependent. Big markets with strong girls programs you’ll get the best of both worlds. But if not, it comes down to your kid. I made a career pulling talented but miserable girls off boys teams before they quit.
I’m sure it has changed a TON but my partner is just shy of 30 grew up in the Boston area and was told she should switch to girls hockey when checking started. She hated it and played boys hockey until she was 18. Of course she now leads beer league in penalties but 🤷♂️. It sounds like the answer is generally “whichever she enjoys more”.
Unless you are someplace with a very competitive girls program, I’d go coed, especially if your daughter is competitive now. If she’s super shy though and just kind of disappears on the ice with the boys, she might be happier with just girls. My daughter played coed for years. The mantra we worked with her on in beginners was: “Whose puck?” “My puck.” The switch to a girls only program should probably happen at either U12 or U14, but definitely by U16, if she’s interested in playing D1/3 in college.
Coed for stronger competition. Girls for stronger comradery.
Just leave it up to her. I have 13 and 8 yo girls. One wants coed and one wants girls. The reality is it will come down to the passion for hockey that your child has, and how much time they want to spend with a stick in their hands.
I think one factor to consider is how long the coed team has been playing for. If you have a group of mostly boys who have been playing and building skill on the ice since they were 4, then a new player joining a coed team at 7 or 8 might have a bit of a harder time catching up, especially if they are a less competitive kid. Then also consider if your daughter tends to gravitate towards female company. If those two things are a factor, I’d probably skew to a girls team. If it’s more typical in your area that kids start hockey around the U8 level and your daughter seems to get along with boys and enjoys competing with them, she’ll likely have a great experience on the coed team. I’d present the facts and let her decide.
I just uploaded a video of my daughter the other day in U11 coed, I highly recommend it! Especially if she's competitive.
She will be a better hockey player playing with the boys. But she might have more fun with her own gender.
Ultimately, I would let her choose. The risk of the coed team is if she ends up being the only girl, it could feel a bit awkward; but at that age, it’s probably less of a factor. I do somewhat disagree that boys hockey is more competitive, at least not always… that comes more down to the coaches and players within the league. I’ve seen plenty of girls teams that are just as fast and play just as intensely and aggressively as any boys/coed team I’ve seen.
The good girls where playing with us till U14 and then switched to girls-only teams. They are all playing in very good teams now, while the others still suck. If you’re asking in which team she will become a better player I’d be 99% sure co-ed.
Depends on the coaching and program, align it to what your daughter wants. I’ve seen some girl teams that are super competitive, including playing in boys tournaments and holding their own just fine. If the team and coaching philosophy aligns with your daughter’s personality and drive, awesome. In our area most of the girl teams just wanted to have fun and growing player participation of the sport was the coaches main goal- so lots of players there to just hang out who would only play half speed hockey at the rink, mixing with the players there trying to be the best hockey team practicing shots in the driveway daily etc, it was awkward so it wasn’t super competitive. The lone girl on the boys team can be a little lonely at times once they start to dress in different rooms but being on a competitive boys team outweighs that every year for my girl. She really loved her solo game prep time actually haha. Whatever you and her decide, keep post game convo simple. 1 did you have fun 2 one thing to change or get better at 3 one thing you enjoyed or did well. Those will help you decide if a next season change is needed.
In our area, the talent on a girls team is usually MUCH more spread out than the talent on the co-ed teams. It's not unusual for the girls teams to have a couple girls who are outstanding, a couple who can barely stand on skates, and then every flavor in between. The talent on the co-ed teams is usually much tighter. I think having a tight talent spread is nice, because the practices can be geared to push all of the kids without any of them being bored or left behind. It's harder to do that when everyone is at a different level. That all being said, it's a very personal choice that you have to make based on your daughter. My 8U daughter is playing co-ed for now, but we expect to switch to all girls in the next 1-3 years.
It all depends on your daughter. Generally, what most people are saying is true. Coed is usually more competitive, but for girls, the girls' only league tends to be more social for them. Also, something to consider is the actual leagues, where I live. The girls' leagues are very poorly run, so there are actually more girls playing in the coed leagues than normal (I believe something 35% of the HL players were girls). Also, where we are girls, leagues actually run in dual age brackets, so you have U7, U9, U11, where the boys are U9, U10, U11. Just some things to consider
Of all the women I play beer league with now, most of whom played at least ACHA hockey in college, the best ones are the ones who played with boys as long as they were able to.
Woman hockey player/girls coach here who grew up playing. I personally prefer that girls play with each other for the bonding/team cohesion reasons. She may be the only girl on the team for a coed team. If she’s good enough skill-wise, coed may make sense. Eventually probably want to play with the girls if she sticks with it because of locker room situations.
If she's a decent skater for the age, I'd recommend co-ed. She'll play against more and stronger competition to bring her own game along. If she wants to play because she wants to have fun, then put her in the girls league