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The
Willowdale Red Wings are the girls' hockey portion of
the Willowdale Sports Club - a community group run in
the north central part of the City of Toronto since the
early 1970s.
 The Willowdale Red Wings strive to provide top level
competitive teams to play in the
LLFHL
(Lower Lakes Female Hockey League) operating under Ontario Women's Hockey
Association sanction (OWHA). |
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Given the
myriad opportunities for young women to play competitive
hockey offered by other organizations in the city and
the GTA, it has been decided that the Redwings
organization will not attempt to ice any teams in the
coming season.
The next 8 months will be a period
of reflection by the Willowdale Sports Club and those
involved with the Redwings. Should interest be shown by
coaches and players, the Redwings will attempt to ice
teams for the 2014-2015 season. Interested parties
should contact the Redwings through the
hockey@redwings.ca
email address prior to November 15, 2013 so together
with them the Redwings can assess future prospects.
In 1996 the Board of the Willowdale Sports Club
approved the formation of a junior girls hockey division
of the Club. The Willowdale Redwings started with 4
teams: an Atom team, two Peewee teams and a Midget
team. Some players on those inaugural teams stayed with
the Redwings and contributed as we expanded to having up
to five teams playing competitive hockey. Through the
help of various volunteer coaches and managers 62 teams
of young ladies have played under the Redwing banner
since that opening season. Some of those players have
assisted with younger teams over the years. Most
recently players from the MA team have assisted
Willowdale Sports Club with their Tyke program for new
hockey players.
Female hockey, and hockey in
general, has evolved since the mid-1990s. Age
categories have changed, and the Junior program has
become an important opportunity for young women to play
the game at the highest level before attending college
or university. Female hockey organizations in the GTA
area have expanded since 1996 but there have also been
changes in demographics in the region. These changes
have made it more and more difficult for the Redwings to
ice younger teams to provide continuity to the program.
In April 2009 the Redwings were unable to find
sufficient players to form an Atom age team. The Peewee
age teams disappeared in 2011, and this season there was
no Bantam age team. Without a core of players to fill
the spots left as players move up to an older age team,
the program becomes less and less able to maintain the
standards all have valued with the Redwings.
Discussing the upcoming season with the current Midget
Head Coaches I learned that neither intends to return to
coaching next year. Personally, I appreciate the
efforts of Rick Maisonneuve and his staff, particularly
as they persevered after Norm Maisonneuve, who was going
to be the head coach of the MAA team, died last summer.
The long term association of Mike Du Maresq and his
staff with the players on the MA team will come to an
end as many of those players move on to college,
university and even MAA teams. These developments
called for an evaluation of the future of the Redwings
and, in the short term, it was decided not to ice any
teams for the 2013-14 season.
I would like to
thank all the coaches and managers who have assisted in
running the 62 teams the Redwings have iced over the
past 17 years. I have appreciated the opportunity to
oversee the organization and watch players grow, going
on to bigger things. It is particularly gratifying to
see many of the players from the early years still enjoy
playing the game.
I would be remiss to not thank
several special individuals who provided support to both
the Redwings and myself over the years. The late Jim
Dysart who acted as the General Manager of the Redwings
in the early years was instrumental in developing the
procedures and practices the organization has followed.
My thanks to Rick Campbell who took over as General
Manager from Jim and coached a number of teams. Over
the years the support of two long time Redwings coaches,
Peter Manza and Dario Giancola, was important to the
organization. Peter, who joined the Redwings coaching
staff as an assistant with Dario when his daughter was
playing, rejuvenated the younger age teams, building an
Atom team from a few inexperienced players into a team
that challenged its opponents in every game. Dario
joined the Redwings in the 2001-02 season with a Bantam
team, not recognizing that by the end of that season he
would be doing double duty with both the Bantam and
Midget program. He went on to coach the Midget team
until the end of the 2007-08 season when he left for a
Junior team Head Coach position. The following year he
came back to the Redwings and assisted various Midget
coaches until the end of the 2010-11 season. He is
still the Coach Emeritus for the Redwings, and someone I
can talk to concerning coaching and other hockey related
issues. |
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Site Maintenance by AIS |
More Red Wing pics are in the Picture Archive |
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