Women’s hockey league launches in North Bay
North Bay's senior women's hockey league has three teams this year with hopes to grow to 10 next year.
It’s the first time in a long time that North Bay has had a senior women’s hockey league through the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association.
But, the puck has dropped and three teams are in the league for this season.
"In North Bay, there wasn’t really a league for girls to play hockey after they aged out of minor hockey. So we wanted something for university students and older adults in the community could continue to play they love the game," said Kiara Jefferies, director of marketing for the North Bay Ice Boltz hockey association.
There’s also hope that this league will continue to grow the game of hockey in North Bay for all age groups.
"We are definitely open to growing the game as a whole," said Jefferies.
"This year, our U7, which is our youngest program, is up to 35 players, where in the past we have had 15-20. So it’s nice to see a growth in the game. Especially it being an Olympic year, all these players on the ice have someone to look up to, which they don’t have in a normal year, which is great to see."
Jefferies told CTV News there’s a wide range of ages in the league with players from ages 18 to 40 years old.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories

'Trudeau can end it all': Conservative carbon tax filibuster stretches into second night
With no signs either side is ready to retreat, the marathon voting session in the House of Commons has stretched into its second day, after MPs stayed up all night rejecting Conservative attempts to defeat government spending plans over the Liberals' refusal to scrap the carbon tax.
Monster storm in North Atlantic stretches cloud from Atlantic Canada to Portugal
A large low-pressure system centred about 750 kilometres to the northeast of Newfoundland is causing clouds to stretch all the way to Portugal.
Ibrahim Ali found guilty of killing 13-year-old girl in B.C.
A jury has found Ibrahim Ali guilty of killing a 13-year-old girl whose body was found in a Burnaby, B.C., park in 2017.
Influenza cases rise in second week of flu season, swine flu most prominent
Influenza cases were on the rise during the second week of the annual flu season, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada, with swine flu being the most detected subtype.
Shohei Ohtani watch kicks into higher gear in Toronto as Blue Jays fans track private plane
Shohei Ohtani watch in Toronto has kicked into another gear.
Ryan O'Neal, star of 'Love Story,' 'Paper Moon,' 'Peyton Place' and 'Barry Lyndon,' dies at 82
Ryan O'Neal, the heartthrob actor who went from a TV soap opera to an Oscar-nominated role in "Love Story" and delivered a wry performance opposite his charismatic 9-year-old daughter Tatum in "Paper Moon," died Friday, his son said.
Six French teens convicted over their roles in an Islamic extremist's beheading of a teacher
A French juvenile court on Friday convicted six teenagers for their roles in the beheading of a teacher by an Islamic extremist that shocked the country.
Transcript of statement by CSIS director Vigneault during town hall meeting for staff
The director of Canada's spy agency, David Vigneault, says the officer at the centre of an investigation by The Canadian Press into allegations of rape and harassment no longer works for the agency, and an ombudsperson will be put in place to monitor workplace-related issues.
Canadian alleges discrimination, sues federal government in effort to get grandchildren out of Gaza
A Palestinian-Canadian is suing the federal government in an effort to get his four grandchildren out of Gaza. Mohammed Nofal, 74, is alleging Global Affairs Canada and immigration officials created a discriminatory policy that denied his family help in evacuating a war zone in the days following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.