Why? What I am seeing here (with the various above posts) is the usual "elite" mentality, which tends to have a not so wonderful way of making the sport less attractive to those who want to have some fun playing the sport, particularly in the off-season. The same mentality that drives playing AAA hockey during the summer, rather than focusing on skill development, conditioning, or maybe even taking a vacation.xwildfan wrote:Perhaps the way to go would be to first contact the established teams; T-Breds, SSM, WI Wild, etc., about their availability in the fall. Then have a try-out for all girls interested in participating and committed to playing in an advanced fall league. Make the try-out fee somewhat steep and partially refundable depending on player attendance. The goal would be to try to determine who really wants to play. You may only end up with one or two teams in addition to the established teams. But I think that's a better solution than having a half a dozen teams made up of players with questionable dedication to the fall league.
The Thoroughbreds, CODP et al have plenty of places to find highly competitive games. As I have mentioned before, we have a BAGELish league here in the Boston area, and the main attraction is the ability to play competitive games without the pressure and expectations that the games actually "mean" anything more than maintaining or improving skill proficiency.
I agree that making modifications to the schedule would likely help attendance (games in Boston run all day on Sunday at one rink to accommodate schedules with other sports, and Prep schools having class on Saturdays) but ultimately the focus (as it currently seems to be) should be on giving the girls that play an opportunity to have fun, plain and simple. Trying to bring in players more "committed" usually means parents trying to make things more competitive/about winning, and results in a decrease in the fun factor.
Just let 'em play.