Girls teams join the Kiwanis par

Girls give new look to youth tournament

By KAREN EKNAIAN
The Patriot Ledger

QUINCY - The Kiwanis Youth Hockey Tournament has been a huge community event in Quincy for years. It's a week of nothing but hockey for the boys, girls and adults who participate.

This season, the annual family gathering has added an all-girls league consisting of four teams, two from Quincy and one each from Braintree and Weymouth.

‘‘Hockey is a family,'' said Michelle Stenberg, who manages Quincy Youth Arena, which hosts the tournament.

‘‘There are people you see once a year and it's like you saw them yesterday. It's the people you meet and the people who eventually become your friends.''

The first girls game was played yesterday and Quincy White defeated Weymouth, 6-3.

This is the first year that Quincy has fielded girls teams, a sign of how popular the sport is becoming among young women.

‘‘The girls play hard,'' Quincy coach Dan McGlone said. ‘‘It's great and the girls love (having their own team). They are dedicated. This is the first year for the girls and it's great with a big crowd for them.''

McGlone is a former Quincy hockey player, having participated in the Kiwanis tournament for nine years.

Rich Durhan, who coaches the second-year girls team from Weymouth(Should be Quincy), played in the Kiwanis tournament as a Squirt and Pee Wee.

‘‘It's been a lot of fun,'' Durhan said. ‘‘Now they have their own team and they're having a blast.''

The teams competing this year consist of girls 12 and younger, with many of them having played hockey for years.

‘‘It's fun. I make a lot of friends,'' said Kennedy Harding, 10, of Quincy, who has been playing the sport for three years.

‘‘I have a lot of friends who are boys on my house team, but I have to say the girls team is better.''

The tournament, in its 32nd year, involves 480 youths from Eastern Massachusetts, Maine, California and Austria. In addition to the four all-girls teams, 24 coed squads are competing in Mite (8 and younger), Squirt (9-10), Pee Wee (11-12) and Bantam (13-14) divisions.

In coed competition yesterday, the Quincy Squirts rallied from a two-goal deficit and defeated Parkway (from Boston), 6-3.

‘‘(The best part) is watching the kids progress,'' Quincy coach Mike Wood said. ‘‘These kids have come a long way since we started the season and the kids love the competition (at the tournament).''

Quincy's Alex Macisaac, 10, scored a hat trick, including the tying goal in the second period, which he considered ‘‘awesome.''

Alex is the youngest of three children and started playing when he was 5 with his dad, Brian, behind him the whole way.

‘‘This is a fantastic tournament,'' Brian Macisaac said. ‘‘It's just a tradition down here. People come from all over the place and Quincy does a nice job (with it).''

Alex's best friend, Shawn Grady, 10, also plays for Quincy and comes from a hockey family. His brother, Matthew, 14, and sister, Colleen, 12, have been playing the sport for years.

The Gradys are one of 12 local families hosting the Austrian team during the week.

‘‘I like it,'' said Colleen, who also plays for the new Quincy White team. ‘‘It's cool to learn their language.''

The host families are bringing the Austrians to see a Providence Bruins game and the John F. Kennedy Library, while also showing them around the South Shore.

‘‘I love this tournament,'' Alex's mom, Terry Macisaac, said. ‘‘A couple of years ago, we had a couple of Austrians stay with us and it was great. They're at the rink constantly, watching each other the whole week. The hockey teams stay over each other's homes and they are just really good friends.''

Karen Eknaian may be reached at keknaian@ledger.com.