Image: 2010 GGHA Bantam BB Provincial Champions salute their families and friends after 1-0 win in overtime (vs Waterloo Ravens). April 2010. Photo credit: Sandra Pitts

Guelph’s history in organized ice sport includes hockey, ringette, curling, speed skating, and figure skating. Guelph Museums’ collection shares the stories of many Guelph athletes who have competed at provincial, national, and international levels and reflects the enduring interest in recreational ice sport.

Men’s hockey dates to 1908 – from the Guelph Royals, the Guelph Holody Platers, and the Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters to the Guelph CMC (Central Mechanical Contractors), the Guelph Beef Kings, and the present-day Guelph Storm.

But the story of women’s hockey in Guelph has yet to be told – until now.

The exhibition Guelph Girls Hockey Association at 25 Years traces the history of the Guelph Girls Hockey Association. Since 1996, GGHA has offered recreational and competitive hockey for female players, centred in physical fitness, self-esteem, and confidence building, and on the development of volunteers and community leaders.

Guelph has become a well-respected centre in Ontario for the development of female hockey players. With just 75 participants in the first season, GGHA now includes 450 players across seventeen house league teams and eleven travel teams in five divisions (ages 5 to 20 plus), under the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association.

From 1996 to 2013, the GGHA travel teams were known as the Guelph Thunder. In 2013, GGHA entered into a partnership with the University of Guelph. Now known as the Guelph Jr. Gryphons, they are champions, medalists, and leaders in women’s hockey across the province.

Visit Guelph Museums to learn about the women and girls who play hockey in Guelph and how the Guelph Girls Hockey Association is changing the story of hockey in this community.