Ice hockey is not a sport that you just dabble in.

If you're a hockey family, you know that's the truth. And if you aren't, you probably have some friends who are. They're the ones who aren't sleeping in on Saturday. They aren't even getting up "early." They're getting up at some ungodly dark hour because one of their kids has practice in Westerly at 5 a.m., and the other one is due in Cumberland at 6 a.m. Because sometimes "ice time" can be as hard to come by as enriched plutonium.

They're the family who is spending the weekend in a motel outside of Springfield, Mass, bedded down with 100 pounds of sweaty gear because someone is playing in a tournament.

And they wouldn't have it any other way.

At the highest levels of play, hockey is a sport long-dominated by men. But women's hockey is not new — it's been played for well over a century. What is relatively new is its popularity, which boomed in the 1990's and caught like wildfire locally after 1998, when Warwick's Sara DaCosta became one of the most recognizable faces on the women's gold medal-winning team at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

Today the number of women's and girls' hockey teams and leagues are at an all-time high, even while growth in the sport overall is slowing, evidenced by an increasing number of local schools finding themselves joining co-op teams, unable to field a full competitive team on their own.

Allison Faria, a former high school player and current coach of the East Bay Eagles — a girls' co-op team of players from Barrington, Mt. Hope, and Portsmouth high schools, all born around the height of DaCosta's olympic career — attributes much of that decline to simple economics. "Hockey is not a cheap sport, for schools or parents," she said. "There are also a lot more options for other winter sports," than what used to traditionally be available to students. Faria also notes that attrition to prep schools with strong hockey programs is an ongoing concern. "We need to do more to keep our talent in-house, and in Rhode Island."

Like some girls, Madison Trauth, a senior from Portsmouth, wanted to play hockey but didn't realize that it was an option for girls until she was well into middle school. Others were introduced to the ice through figure skating, but soon found hockey skates more appealing. Many, like Ella Hanley, a Mt. Hope freshman, came to the sport because, well, she was going to be spending a lot of time at a rink regardless. According to Ella's father Ted, she was about 3 when she started to skate because she was going to her older brother's practices anyway, and playing is more fun than watching. "There were a bunch of kids her age whose siblings were on the ice; she saw them having fun," said Hanley. "I don't think there was ever a question of her not wanting to play."

Hanley, himself a lifelong player and USA Hockey-certified coach, has a clear perspective on the benefits of co-op teams in the small community of local hockey players. "Mt Hope currently has female 4 players; without co-op they're not playing," he said. "Some towns let the girls play on the boys' team, but in my opinion, that's not a good option….there (usually) isn't the same physical element (to their play) and they can become targets. The ponytail is a dead giveaway."
Despite coming from different towns, and perhaps rival schools during other sports' seasons, the integration of the East Bay Eagles was instantaneous, according to coach Faria. "The girls just got along," she said. "You don't notice which one goes to which school."

Dawn Rego, whose daughter Carissa is a junior at Mt. Hope and, for a time, was the only Mt. Hope player, agrees. "Carissa was the only girl from Mt Hope but it did not matter," said Rego. "The girls have learned that rivalry is okay and that there are times you are on a team with a friend and there are times when you play against your friends."

At the collegiate level, Brown University was the first to have a women's ice hockey program. The women Brown Bears (dubbed the Pandas) played their first game in February of 1966. Other Ivies soon followed suit, with Cornell, Yale, Dartmouth, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania and Princeton adding teams in the 1970's.

As for the East Bay Eagles, many of the players may have designs on playing college hockey one day, but for now, they are just enjoying their winning season (8-4-2 at press time) and the camaraderie of the team. "Family" is a word that is used often.

"My true friends are on this team," said Trauth. "I couldn't ask for a better family to be sharing the love of this sport with."