The established teams of Shoreline Sharks Youth Hockey are thriving again early in the 2014-15 season. That, however, does not stop the organization from continuing to find new opportunities for interested hockey players.

A longtime leader in the development of competitive hockey options for girls in the state of Connecticut, the East Haven-based program continues to innovate more than a decade later.

“We’ve added a new beginners’ team,” said Bill Greim, the Shoreline Sharks’ president who, along with Gary LaChance, started the program in 2000 and then also worked together as co-founders of the Connecticut Girls Hockey League in 2005.

The idea for a beginners’ team developed when Greim and the Sharks board members saw a growing number of girls who wanted to enter the sport at ages 12 and 13.

“Which is a little bit harder to do now,” Greim said. So they created a second 12U team just for those kids.

The girls technically fit the age of a 14U team, but by keeping them independent of the Connecticut Girls Hockey League, the Sharks were able to form a non-league schedule against more comparable 12U opponents. The beginners’ team recently played in a tournament, and Greim expects it to have played between 15 and 20 games by the time the season concludes.

“It’s going real well,” Greim said. “It’s great to see girls find a way to get into hockey, even with a little later start.”

To date, the opponents have been picked effectively so that, while the newcomers have lost more games than they have won, they have been in close, competitive contests while learning the sport.

“When you put a team together like this, it’s hard to project,” Greim said. “The kids are ecstatic to be playing.”

The beginners’ team is the next in a long line of new opportunities created by Greim and LaChance. After first starting the program at Guilford High School, then the Shoreline Sharks, Greim and LaChance knew something else was needed and started the Connecticut Girls Hockey League.

“About a year into it, we realized it would be a lot easier if we had a league,” Greim said. “We got together with some folks from other teams and founded the Connecticut Girls Hockey League as well.”

LaChance served the first nine years as league president and, in the first year since stepping down from that role, remains on the league board along with Greim.

The league now has 13 bantam teams and 10 peewee teams, as well as six 19U teams that play a split season to coordinate with state high school teams. It also helps coordinate games for five 10U “prelim” teams.

“It’s created a lot of excitement and a lot of opportunities,” Greim said. “We had a lot of growing pains as a league. We had to learn to find our place, where we fit.”

Connecticut has some higher-level girls’ programs that feature more demanding travel and a higher commitment to the sport. The CGHL strives to keep travel and costs manageable while still giving girls’ teams a league schedule.

“It’s turned out to be a great place for kids to play competitive hockey,” Greim said. “Connecticut’s a small state. We also have teams in Brewster, New York and Westfield, Mass., but they’re all within an hour to hour-and-a-half drive, which is what we try to do, keep it regionalized and keep it inexpensive for families.”

The Shoreline Sharks are leading the CGHL’s 19U league with a 7-0 record while allowing only six goals. The 14U team is 5-4-2 and right in the middle of the league standings.

The 12U Sharks Green team is also thriving defensively with three shutouts in a 4-0-1 start under coach Ed Rodham.

“He’s just done a great job of teaching and creating a harmony on the team that is very positive,” Greim said.

On most levels, the Shoreline Sharks are a program for girls. However, another offering added in recent years, the Sand Sharks, is open to boys and girls and serves as a learners’ clinics for 30 kids between ages 2.5 and 12.

“We’re really excited about making it high-energy, fun and interesting for the kids,” Greim said.

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.