By Ottawa Sports Pages, for Ottawa Girls Hockey Association
Kyleigh Benninger grew up near Owen Sound in Chesley, ON, with skates on her feet and a stick in hand ever since she began playing “boys’ hockey” at age four.
“It wasn’t called ‘coed’ or anything when we played,” recalls Benninger, who was always an Ottawa Senators fan despite living much closer to Toronto. “Every year, on every team, there was myself and one other girl. And we were forced to get ready in closets and hallways and refs’ rooms, and often with the girls from the opposing team.”
Benninger’s lone female teammate, Jess MacKinnon, ended up becoming her best friend. Years later, both moved to Ottawa – Benninger to study political science at Carleton University and MacKinnon for coop placements to conclude her program at the University of Waterloo.
Now public service employees respectively, the pair experienced “a full-circle moment” when they took the members of the under-9 team they coach with the Ottawa Girls’ Hockey Association to a Professional Women’s Hockey League game this season.
“We were just as excited as the players were just to be there. We had an absolute blast,” recalls Benninger.
One team member skated out the PWHL Ottawa flag, another managed to trade Sour Patch Kids candy for a player’s stick, and many got autographs signed after the game.
“I feel bad for the other people in our section – the high-pitched squealing probably hurt their eardrums a little bit, but it was pretty awesome to experience that with them,” adds the PWHL Ottawa season ticket holder.
Benninger says her team “worked their butts off” this season – on the ice about every second day on average, including skills work on Tuesday nights at Amped Sports Lab in Leitrim. But they “had a really good time doing it,” and many of the moments the team spent together off-ice were treasured most.
“There’s some pretty incredible friendships on this team,” Benninger signals. “We’re two best friends leading the team, right? And so they see what friendship can bring them and that we’ve played together all our lives.”
‘A welcoming, positive environment’
Benninger and MacKinnon had always talked of coaching a girls’ team together, and when one of their fellow rec hockey teammates mentioned her daughter played with the OGHA, they decided it was time to jump in. They worked as assistant coaches last season and this year took the helm of the Ottawa Ice U9 ‘B’ team, along with two players’ moms, who also became essential parts of the coaching team.
Their primary goal was crystal-clear.
“At the end of the day, we want girls to stay in sports,” Benninger underlines. “We want to create a safe, respectful and fun kind of culture, and a welcoming, positive environment that keeps them wanting to come back.”
That objective boiled down to one word: support.
“It’s been a really important value that we’ve tried to instill early on,” explains Benninger, who often experienced the reverse in boys’ hockey. “We always talked about support before every game, and they know what that means now.
“Support your teammates – when we’re doing well, when we’re not doing well. When I’m feeling down, I feel better when my teammates are there for me. Let’s be there for one another.
“And another big message was to believe in yourselves. I think young girls can be so hard on themselves – the smallest things just feel so big. If they make a little mistake, it feels debilitating.
“We want them to know we’ve been in their shoes before and we know what that feels like. So we remind them that they can do it. We see you do it every day, and your teammates believe in you too. That support really goes a long way in building self-esteem and confidence.”
As non-parent coaches taking leadership of a team for the first time, Benninger and MacKinnon appreciated the exceptional support and belief they received from the players’ parents as well.
“We had very open communication and I think we just created a really collaborative atmosphere,” Benninger notes. “The girls always felt that they could come to us, and the parents always did too.”
The coaches were touched when some of their players came out to watch one of their women’s rec league games – posters in hand to cheer them on.
“It was adorable,” smiles Benninger, whose team lost that contest. “They were like, ‘It’s OK, guys. Don’t worry about it. It was a tough team.’ They were all supporting us, it was roles reversed. To see them do that at this age is pretty incredible.”
Impressive provincials
In Mississauga from Apr. 11-14, the Ice enjoyed a very successful performance at the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association’s 2024 Provincial Championships, but one of Benninger’s proudest moments came from their time at the hotel.
After going for a swim and sharing a shawarma dinner together while watching the IIHF Women’s World Championships, the players surprised their coaches with a dance performance they created to Ice, Ice, Baby.
“The entire team was part of it, and all weekend the girls made sure that everyone was being included,” highlights Benninger, who’s also a fan of dance parties on the bench from time to time.
The Ice excelled in their competition too, scoring two wins on Saturday and two ties on Sunday for an unbeaten record. Many players also participated in WickFest skills clinics led by legends like Hayley Wickenheiser and Danielle Goyette.
“The girls were pretty exhausted from both the social time and all the ice times, but they pushed to the end,” Benninger recounts. “We all had this wave of sadness kind of come over us that the season is ending, but it was just a fantastic year.”
A champion isn’t determined at the U9 level, but Benninger loved gathering in the parking lot and saying a few fun words about each player as she presented them with medals and women’s hockey cards from WickFest.
“The hockey cards had a lot of the PWHL players on them,” outlines Benninger, whose association also had a U9 house league team play during an intermission at TD Place. “It’s awesome for them to start their hockey career with this kind of thing to look up to and have the ability to dream big and want to play in the PWHL.”
But her players look up to the U15 67’s AA players who often help out at their practices like stars as well. The OGHA is building “an incredible pipeline” where young female players see that coaching can be part of their futures too, Benninger adds.
It’s a long way from changing in the broom closet.
“It’s funny to think back, and now to have experienced provincials last weekend with so many girls’ teams and opportunities,” reflects Benninger, who will coach a U11 Ice team next year. “It’s pretty amazing to see how far female hockey has come. It’s such an exciting time.”
Learn more about the Ottawa Girls’ Hockey Association at OGHA.org.
