Women’s Hockey Nationals in Anaheim

Hoping to capitalize on excitement generated by the Olympic gold medal won by the U.S. women’s ice hockey team in Nagano, USA Hockey will stage its 19th national championships for girls’ and women’s teams in Anaheim this week, the first time it has been held on the West Coast.

The tournament begins Wednesday and concludes next Sunday at Disney Ice and nearby Glacial Garden Ice Arena. A total of 46 teams will compete for titles in five age-group categories, starting from 12 and younger.

Olympians Angela Ruggiero, Jenny Schmidgall, Alana Blahoski and Chris Bailey are expected to compete on different teams in the senior open division.

The boys’ Tier II national championships for ages 12 to 18, will run concurrently at the Lakewood Glacial Garden Ice Arena.

The girls’ and women’s opening ceremonies, free to the public, begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Disneyland Hotel. Women’s Olympic team Coach Ben Smith is scheduled to speak.

Ice hockey is growing faster in popularity among women and girls than any group, according to Karen Lundgren, a section director at USA Hockey.

“There are 23,000 females registered to play the sport right now and that doesn’t include those playing in high school or college programs,” she said. “The last statistics I saw there were only 5,000 females playing in 1989-90.”

Lundgren said the availability of ice arenas has increased and that has helped to open up more playing space for women and girls.

“But there’s also been a cultural change,” she said. “The kids today have been raised to believe they can do anything and so if they want to play hockey and they are female, go for it.”

Disney Ice is a good choice to host the event, according to marketing representative Joe Naber, because the two-rink facility has a four-team women’s league, the only place in the area to do so.

Mike Johansson, an open division coach and former Pacific District representative, said USA Hockey jumped at staging the event in Anaheim when he proposed it. Although in theory the event is supposed to rotate between regions of the country, the majority of teams are based in the East and the Midwest, he said, and California was never considered in the past.

The women’s and girls’ nationals are scheduled from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, with semifinals and finals scheduled for April 4 and 5.

Daily tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for students. A tournament pass for adults costs $20, $12 for students. Children 5 and under will be admitted free.

For more information, call (714) 535-7465.