Melissa Russell
Barb Taylor was a woman with a simple dream: To play ice hockey.
She had watched her children play, and the game looked like so much fun she wanted to try it herself. She found a co-ed beginner program, and after playing once, Taylor was hooked. She started talking the game up with friends but initially met some resistance.
“I wanted to spread the joy, but the idea of a co-ed clinic seemed to be a barrier to a lot of people,” she said.
According to Taylor, many women found the idea of a 250-pound male skater, even the most well-meaning beginner, crashing into them discouraging, to say the least.
So, Taylor, 51, proposed starting a basic skills clinic for women, and before long, a group of women were learning to skate from one end of the ice to the other, mastering stickhandling and reveling in the refrigerated air on their faces.
“We had this pretty consistent, dedicated group of 15 to 20 women,” she said. “They call it ‘mom’s hockey,’ which I hate because not everyone is a mom. But it turns out there are a lot of women who want to play.”
The group grew. Taylor got in touch with a similar group in Waltham and had a scrimmage for the first time, playing in jerseys donated by a friend in Michigan.
“It was just so much fun,” she said. “I turned to one of my friends and said, ‘We have to form a league.’ If we can do this consistently, it would just be incredible.”
Then COVID-19 came along in 2020, and abruptly, the idea was put on hold.
“It was hard to get numbers then because everyone was homeschooling their kids,” she said.
But once the pandemic loosened its grip, Taylor contacted the Belmont Recreation Department and started an official women’s hockey league.
“It was fantastic,” she said. “We started a beginner league for women who wanted to go to the next level — playing in a game consistently with the same people.”
In the first year, there was enough interest to host four teams, Taylor said. Fifty women were skating, many of whom had no experience but had a desire to try something new, work as a team, bond with other women, and frankly, “have a blast,” Taylor said.
Then, in December 2022, the compressor at the 50-year-old Skip Viglirolo Ice Rink broke, and the rink, already in an advanced state of disrepair, was closed. Voters rejected a $33.5 million plan to fund a new rink in 2022 but approved a scaled-down plan last year. But the new rink won’t be ready until 2025.
Once again, Taylor had to scramble to keep the hockey dream alive.
She hit the phones, but it wasn’t easy to find ice time for the scrappy league. Many rinks in the region are managed by FMC Ice Sports, which prioritizes youth programs, Taylor learned. After that comes adult leagues that sign contracts for hundreds of hours.
“I was thinking, I don’t know how we’re going to keep things going without any ice,” Taylor said. “The Rec Department tried too, but that’s not their mission — finding ice time in other towns for us.”
Finally, after hours on the phone, Taylor was able to get some ice time in Somerville, enough to keep the program going with skills clinics and regular games Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The 10-game season wrapped up last weekend. The women marked the occasion with a final tournament and a celebration.
“It was just fantastic,” Taylor said.
While she is contemplating taking a break from hockey to get her oldest child off to college, Taylor is already looking to the future. She would love to grow the league, add teams, and hold more advanced skills clinics.
“We have laid a great foundation,” she said. “The 50 women who know how it works are ready to form a real team.”
It is a lot of work, finding the ice time and deciding how many evenings to spend at the rink. But the love of the sport, the camaraderie, and the excitement are always drawing her back to the rink. It is an actual passion project, Taylor said.
Player Nicole Dorn, 40, said she enjoys being part of a team, where she gets to be part of a “very supportive, awesome, positive community.”
“It’s awesome to learn something new at this age,” she said. “Barb says we’re all badass women.”
Taylor said she has found joy and enthusiasm for learning something new amongst other people. Hockey, she said, beyond being a great group workout, gets the adrenaline pumping and makes players feel “good and tough.”
“Who would have thought at the age of 50 I’m going to learn a new sport, and who would guess the sport is ice hockey? But wow, it works,” she said.
To learn more about Belmont Women’s Hockey, visit belmontwomenshockey.com
