How the Caps can reach out to women

 Some of my high school girls' hockey team during a practice. I'm 7th from right.

As we all know, I'm on Twitter quite often. Earlier this evening, I saw a tweet from the Anaheim Ducks advertising a girls' hockey clinic in partnership with USA Hockey.

After I had a little rant Wednesday night about the still-controversial Scarlet Caps, the wheels started turning.

Why don't the Scarlet Caps take a page from the Ducks and host a hockey clinic?

I know that some women enjoy the Hockey 'N Heels event, and that's just fine, but personally, it's not for me. As someone who played hockey for my high school girls' team, I don't need to pay money to stand on a carpet in the middle of Kettler's ice having a current Capital teaching me how to shoot a puck. I already know how to shoot a puck. I did it several times a week in high school.

What Scarlet Caps needs to do is reach out to the women who already know how to play hockey, or even participate in local women's leagues. This is an area of the market that Scarlet Caps has missed out on while focusing on women who are just beginning to learn about hockey and want to learn the basics.

So why not host clinics for women and girls? I, for one, would enjoy that type of event. Sweeten the deal by having clinics led by Capitals/Bears coaches (players would be great but not necessary), and I'd be willing to shill out money to be learning from some of the best coaches in the world while actually playing the game on my skates and learning how to become a better player.

After I retweeted the link from Anaheim and brought up the idea of having women's and girls' clinics sponsored by the Capitals and Scarlet Caps, I got a lot of responses from women who thought it was a great idea. A selection of the responses appear below:

"That would be so much fun."

"Completely agree. A clinic for the girls, a clinic for the ladies who DO play, and one for the wannabes. There's some perspective."

"Get a bunch of people and email Ted about it."

Well, the last response is sort of what I'm doing by bringing attention to it. I think it would be a great outreach for the Capitals, and a smart way to market to women. The idea of a clinic treats women as equals, as opposed to the sort of mentality that says, "Here, put on some heels, and stand on this carpet in the middle of the ice while a man teaches you to shoot a puck into a net, because you wouldn't know how to do it otherwise." 

A women's hockey clinic would truly bring women into the action instead of sitting on the sidelines. It's an approach with which I hope the Capitals would agree.

How I Became a Caps Fan

In terms of Caps fans, I’m a very recent one.  Before you call me a bandwagoner, know that I was never a hockey fan before my first Caps game.  The Caps not only made me love them, they made me love the game.

I grew up in Illinois, which is pretty popular in hockey.  But I was a figure skater.  I skated competitively from age 5 to 15.  My primary activity was what is now called synchronized skating – I spent probably 75% of my childhood in an ice rink, and have competed in rinks all over the US and Canada.  As a figure skater, we hated the hockey kids.  They ate up our ice time, they made divots in our ice, they stank up the locker rooms, and they walked into the rink with their enormous bags like they owned the place.  I remember in my hometown ice rink they had some Blackhawks plaques on the walls, so I knew the names Chris Chelios, Ed Belfour, and Jeremy Roenick.  And yet our mite teams were called the Red Wings.

In high school, I changed my focus.  Figure skating was becoming increasingly expensive, and going into high school, I couldn’t afford to miss all the school time as I had traveling for competitions.  So I joined my high school’s girls hockey team.  It was a “no experience necessary” club team, so, to put it lightly, we sucked.  But I proudly wore #33 for the Barrington Fillies.  I was a fast skater due to my years of figure skating and eventually learned all the rules of hockey, and even scored one GWG in my career.  But despite playing hockey, I still failed to find interest in professional hockey – or any particular team for that matter.

I found myself in Washington, DC for college, and stayed in town post-graduation.  My first Capitals game was February 26, 2008.  My ticket in section 110 cost $25, thanks to the Student Rush promotion.  I was 22 years old.  And I was enraptured.  It was the most exciting sporting event I’d ever witnessed (and to give you some perspective, we were playing the Minnesota Wild).  The speed and the skill were jaw-dropping.  I’d only ever heard of Alex Ovechkin and here he was.  And I wanted more.  After that, I started watching the games on TV.  I got to know the players’ names, then their strengths and weaknesses.  I started learning about other teams’ players as well.  I started to get attached.  I went to one other regular season game that year, and then Game 7 of the playoff series against the Philadelphia Flyers.  If that didn’t cement my love for the team and the fans and the energy of the game, nothing would.  If someone calls me a bandwagoner, believe me, I know about rooting for a losing team: I’m a Chicago Cubs fan.  Hello, 1908.

Today I not only call myself a die-hard Caps fan, but also a fan of the game of hockey.  I’ll pretty much watch any hockey game on TV, and much of my money goes to hockey games and merchandise (well, and arena-priced beer).  I have a Caps blog and a solid Twitter following.  I was introduced to the Hershey Bears.  I feel now that I have something that I’m really passionate about; somewhere I fit in and feel comfortable.  And I owe it all to the Capitals.