Gabbi Franklin remembers the moment she decided she wanted to play hockey.
The Pickerington native is now a member of the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets 14U girls team that is headed to nationals, but a few years ago, she was just a kid enjoying a Blue Jackets game at Nationwide Arena when inspiration struck.
“It’s kind of funny because we were here,” she said after working as a coach at the Blue Jackets Girls Hockey Day presented by Bread Financial on the arena’s main ice March 15. “My dad brought me to a Blue Jackets game, and I remember my words. I said, ‘I want to be out there some day. I want to be out there,’ so that’s how it started.”
Two Saturdays ago, Franklin was out there, helping girls learn to play the game she loves and serving as an inspiration to the 65 youngsters who one day hope to lace up the skates and achieve great things just like her.
The stages will hopefully keep getting bigger for both Franklin and girls hockey in Columbus, which is thriving in a way that portends an even greater future. There are so many ways to quantify the growth of the game both here and in general, starting at the pro level, where the success of the Professional Women’s Hockey League has shown the appetite for high-level women’s hockey is stronger than ever.
In Columbus, that shows itself in many ways. The Ohio State women’s hockey program has won two of the last four national championships, participated in five straight Frozen Fours and consistently graduated players to their national teams, including the Olympic Games. Just three years into its existence, the AAA program is sending a team to nationals for the first time to compete against the best in the country.
And perhaps best of all, participation in girls hockey has started to skyrocket. In 2016-17, 42 girls were registered in the Blue Jackets Learn To Play on-ice program for kids aged 4-10; in 2023-24, that number was up to 353. Likewise, girls registration in the organization’s Get Out and Learn clinics for ages 5 to 9 has risen from 120 in 2017-18 to 377 in 2023-24. And this season, 257 girls are participating in the Blue Jackets Hockey League, up from 67 two years ago.
The numbers are similar when it comes to USA Hockey participation. During the 2018-19 season, 302 girls age 18 or under were registered to play in Central Ohio; that number was up to 674 for the 2023-24 season. The vast majority of those girls – 606 – are 14 and under, providing a backbone for what should be a very exciting future.
“It’s grown a lot,” said Leslie Walker, a longtime coach who is vice president and hockey director for Central Ohio Girls Hockey. “It’s quite astounding when I look back where we came from. It’s just amazing to be part of it.”
AAA Program Competes at a High Level
Led by head coach Mike Darr, the AAA Blue Jackets 14U girls team went to Pittsburgh in early March to face the established Pens Elite program for the Mid-Am regional title. A bid at nationals was on the line, and the team hit the road intent on carrying the flag, so to speak, to represent the city and show how far it’s come.
“Coach told us he wanted us to show everyone else what girls hockey was about in Columbus,” Franklin said. “So that’s what we did.”
The teams were tied 3-3 through two periods, but three straight goals – two from Ellie Maksim – allowed the AAA Blue Jackets to earn a 6-4 victory. With the win, the squad has advanced to USA Hockey nationals, which will take place starting next week in Marlborough, Mass., outside Boston.
Considering the program is in just its third season, Darr didn’t shy away from what the impact of such success might mean going forward.
“It’s definitely a monumental point in the growth of girls hockey, and it’s going to be a huge milestone to build off of and see what happens next,” Darr said.
The AAA Blue Jackets first started a girls program in the 2010s only to have to stop sponsoring the teams for a couple of years because the numbers weren’t sustainable.
But given the recent rise in participation and the interest in the community, the time was right two seasons ago to give it another shot. The AAA team started with one age group – a 14U team for the 2008 and ‘09 birth years – and has since expanded to teams at the 16U and 12U level.
One thing that has stood out to Darr is the camaraderie that’s been built so quickly inside the organization, as well as the commitment to growing the game that’s come about.
“The one thing I preach to the girls is that you’re not just doing it for yourself,” Darr said. “You’re doing it for the girls coming up and giving them something to look up to. It’s not the name on the back; it’s that emblem on the front. No matter where you play, that’s what really matters, that you’re playing for the person next to you.
“The big thing that we learn as coaches in watching programs grow is how much these girls work for each other and want to be good role models for the girls coming up.”
The AAA Blue Jackets program is headed by girls hockey director Kerry Bowman, who now coaches the 16U team and was head coach of the 14U team its first season. Bowman’s goal when he arrived was to build a program with an eye on long-term success, which has come perhaps sooner than even he imagined.
“I’d be lying if I said I thought we’d already be having a team going to nationals in year three, but it’s a credit to that team and those players and those girls,” Bowman said. “We definitely didn’t think it was a shock or anything like that. We felt we had a good chance with the way it was structured. We felt confident in our group, and they delivered.”
Darr’s assistant coach, Marty Laroche, is a longtime coach for the AAA Blue Jackets who worked on the boys side as the program grew in the late 2000s and early 2010s. At that time, such names as Connor Murphy, Sean Kuraly and Jack Roslovic came through the program and would go on to become regulars at the NHL level.
Laroche said he sees similarities in the growth of girls hockey now to what he saw on the boys side years ago. That’s music to Bowman’s ears, especially as opportunities continue to grow at the college and professional levels.
“I’m just excited,” Bowman said. “You look at the boys program churning out players that are going D-I, they’re playing pro, they’re playing at the NHL level, and obviously we’ve been spoiled having multiple of them playing for the Blue Jackets.
“You look down the road and you’re looking at hopefully our program is in a position where we’re sending girls to D-I and we have girls that are potentially going to be playing in the PWHL and maybe representing their country at the national stage. That’s the end goal for our program.”
It Takes a Village
One thing that’s been proved consistently in the development of young hockey players is it takes an entire community to help them to thrive.
In Columbus, that infrastructure has grown through the decades on the boys side, and the fruits of those labors are being seen in increased participation, the success of the AAA team and the number of players who have reached the college and pro levels.
As the girls side starts to see the same success, one area Darr pointed to is the grassroots level. Without the efforts of the Blue Jackets introducing kids to the game through Learn To Play and Get Out and Learn as well as Central Ohio Girls Hockey, the success would be much harder to come by.
“I would say one of the main reasons it’s growing is really the grassroots,” Darr said. “When we started the (10U) program eight years ago with Central Ohio Girls Hockey, this team that is now with the Ohio Blue Jackets was basically the first 10U team we had back then. Those birth years been playing together the past four or five years. It just shows you the growth, when they start young and start playing together, how much they bond together.”
Walker described Central Ohio Girls Hockey as an “uber organization” that helps attract and keep girls in the sport. Much of the focus is on helping younger girls in the age 6 to 14 age bracket get into the game and stay, providing a base of participation that trickles up as time goes on.
“We dedicate ourselves to the bottom (of the triangle), helping them get on the ice, get skilled, get equipment, get training and prepare them to compete or try out for teams, join house leagues, join the Blue Jackets Learn To Play program, then filter into the Blue Jackets Hockey League and be able to have the skill, the love of it and enjoyment of it,” Walker said. “That’s our focus.”
There are number of other organizations in Columbus that sponsor girls hockey, including the Columbus Chill Youth Hockey Association, which has supported programs since 2006. This upcoming season, the CCHYA plans to sponsor travel teams in the 10U, 12U, 14U, 16U and 19U age brackets.
Then there’s the Columbus Ice Hockey Club, which started in 1999. One of 39 NHL Hockey is For Everyone programs, the CIHC serves more than 3,000 youth per year, with more than 65 percent of their participants being minority and more than 30 percent female. The organization offers U14, U16 and U19 girls teams, the chance to play at the JV level for high school girls, and opportunities for younger girls to step on the ice for the first time.
During the NHL Stadium Series festivities last month, the NHL, Blue Jackets, ESPN and Ohio State hosted a series of events that included a VIP screening of Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2 with nearly 100 girls and boys from OSU’s LiFEsports program and the CIHC. The week also included multiple Learn to Skate and Learn to Play clinics with NHL Foundation U.S. ambassador and Olympic gold medalist Haley Skarupa.
The day before the game, the Columbus Ice Hockey Club was announced as the inaugural recipient of the Empowerment Grant for Girls Hockey from the NHL Foundation U.S.
“What it does is it helps us knock down some of the hurdles that we have,” said John Haferman, the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department’s liaison to the CIHC. “You cannot get better unless you work on the skills. What it’s going to do is allow us to do is be on the ice more for development purposes. We’re going to be able to run several more skates. The more practice you do, the better you get.”
The Columbus Ice Hockey Club has a long-term relationship with both the Blue Jackets Foundation and the NHL. Kim Davis, the league’s senior vice president for social impact, growth initiatives and legislative affairs, said it’s one of the most respected programs across the country when it comes to providing opportunities for players to get on the ice.
“The model here is really the model of all of our youth programs across the country,” Davis said. “I often hear people talk about what are some of the best youth programs in the community at removing barriers and providing access, and John Haferman and the Columbus program always comes up as an example.”
Building a Brighter Future
While Haferman always has an eye on the future, he never stops thinking about those who have helped the Columbus Ice Hockey Club become what it is. The club has stayed close to its alumni over the years, and many of them were in attendance for the events leading up to the Stadium Series that celebrated girls hockey.
“The thing that really struck a chord with me was being in the room, we had probably 24 or 25 girls that came out of our program that are now young adults that are successful,” Haferman said. “It was a really melancholy moment. I’m sitting here in this room thinking, I knew them when they were little girls and lacked confidence and didn’t really know what they wanted to do, and now here they are in this room being acknowledged. That was a really cool thing for them to be able to do.”
If you talk to anyone involved in the community, one of the things that comes up is how big of an impact hockey can have on girls. From building confidence to learning how to battle adversity to the social aspect of being teammates and friends with other girls, hockey teaches as much away from the ice as it does on it, and Walker has seen it firsthand.
Her daughter, Brienne, started at a young age because her brother was playing. As she got better on the ice, she translated those skills off of it, eventually attending the Air Force Academy and graduating in 2019. Now, she is an Air Force captain who flies KC135 refueling jets.
“I always point to her when I’m talking with families,” Walker said. “She tried out, got to be pretty good at it, grew, gained confidence, and decided after high school that she wanted to go to the Air Force Academy, so she competed against all of Ohio for two spots and got one.
“She went into the Air Force Academy, did well out there, went into pilot training, and she’s now an Air Force pilot. She will tell you it’s because she got the confidence, the ability to compete, the teamwork, all of the things that sports and hockey gives, and that’s part of the reason she is where she is now.”
Another piece of the puzzle is the mentorship and community aspect. Darr said one of the big things he tries to do is take his teams to Ohio State to see some of the best players in the country, and the Buckeyes women’s team is often active with the youth organizations. It’s all about showing what’s possible to the younger kids, who get an up-close look at their heroes.
Blake Bolden grew up in the Cleveland area, went on to star at Boston College, played professionally and is now a scout for the Los Angeles Kings as well as a broadcaster. As she’s seen opportunities for girls to play in her home state grow, she’s also tried to give back to grow the game.
“The boulder is rolling downhill, and there’s just been such great ambassadors for the game,” Bolden said. “I think we’ve done a great job of loving the sport that we grew up playing and wanting to see it on a big platform, and now we’re seeing it. We have a pro league, we have a beautiful rivalry series, and we have stadiums filled up watching the best women in the world play. Now, little girls can look up and become professional hockey players and play at some of the best universities in the nation.”
For Franklin, that means going from playing with boys growing up to already being a role model when she helped teach the game to the next generation at Girls Hockey Day. The future could be even brighter as the game grows and grows, both for Franklin and the girls she mentored.
“It’s amazing,” Franklin said. “When I started, there was nothing. It was all about boys, and now, it’s just amazing to see all of the girls developing and learning.”
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