Regensburg.Who has the opportunity to skate for Germany with players holding over 200 caps? This was possible on the Young Polar Bears’ Girl’s Day: Franziska Busch (37) and Jennifer Haro (35) were guests at the tester session at the Danube Arena, and they are now national coaches for the U18s and U16s. German women’s and girls’ ice hockey.

There has also been an increased demand for young polar bears in Regensburg. “My daughter is the only girl playing in U17, but we already have seven in our U13,” says youth leader Julia Kores with figures. “We’ve been doing a lot there too, we’ve become more open,” she says.

The short-lived appointment coincided with “World Weekend Girl’s Day”, which is always used to promote ice hockey among girls in early October. “We are one of four clubs in Germany that participated this time,” says Julia Kores.

Very far

About 750 girls play ice hockey in Germany, with boys nine times that number. Also interesting: Of the roughly 210,000 players worldwide, more than 80 percent are active in the United States or Canada, which is currently the Olympic and world champion. All other nations are far from North Americans. At the end of August, the German national team secured their place in group A with a goal 0.1 seconds before the end against Denmark. “Women’s ice hockey in particular is growing more and more. But we still have a long way to go,” says Jennifer Haro. The under-16 national coach believes reservations about ice hockey players are outdated. “Hockey is a lot of fun and it has nothing to do with gender. I think that’s the old way of thinking.”

Action Days like this one in the Danube Arena can help. “It helps to draw attention to that. And then you have to expect the girls to come back and get stuck. Ice hockey is very versatile, you need stamina and strength, you have to be flexible and have good coordination. It’s about the whole package.”

Haro himself has completed around 150 games as a goalkeeper in the third division and fourth division for men and is therefore not an isolated case. “There’s no direct contact, because there comes a point when men are physically superior,” Haro says. “Targeting you need other components like speed, maneuverability or responsiveness. And you can have that as a woman as well. It’s not that different.” Now it’s about making ice hockey better for women and girls. “The numbers are completely different in the United States and Canada, there are different girls’ teams. With three or four girls per team we’re still a long way from that, no matter what club you look at.”

exchange with clubs

In addition, the infrastructure of the ice rink, which does not offer an infinite ice surface, limits capacity. Haro “sees communication with the clubs as very important. In the end, it goes hand in hand.” In Regensburg, the EHC is attempting to build a team that already exists but has not yet played in league games. Young Polar Bears are also trying to maintain exchanges with the SWC ice hockey group. Not only in the case of women and girls in ice hockey, but.