‘GeriHatricks’: New hockey league in Langley, B.C. gives older women a place to play

A new hockey league in B.C.’s Lower Mainland is giving older women a safe place to lace up their skates once again.

Athletes in the women’s division of the Adult Safe Hockey League range in age from 45 to 68, and they say — playfully — that some of the team names reflect that.

“My husband came up with the name ‘Hot Flashes,’ which I thought was very appropriate for our age group,” said Gretchen McConnell, who plays for the GeriHatricks.

Susan Rittinger, who organized the new league, said playing with younger, faster women was starting to become a bit risky.

“The body is older; you can’t take it as well. We don’t heal as fast,” she told Global News.

“I knew that there were other women like me out there … just someone had to get them together.”

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Many of the players are very skilled, having played varsity hockey in university or grown up on a rink.

Their passion for hockey is just as strong as ever, they said ahead of a game last month.

“I have to try and settle it down a little, you know, because I’m getting older,” said Susie Pattee, who plays defence for the Vintage Edition. “It’s not an easy thing for me to do.”

Pattee, who remembers a time when no leagues existed for girls to play hockey, said she’s thrilled to play against other women her age.

“The young kids, they don’t want grandma in the dressing room, come on. I’m 60 now,” she said.

There are 30 regular season games in the new women’s division.

Rittinger said it was rewarding to bring so many athletes together who might not otherwise have been able to play.