MABEL BOYD Plaque Dedication at Tomken Twin Arena

THANKS MABEL:

  By Chriss Guthrie

 On Saturday, October 24, Mabel Boyd’s contribution to women’s hockey in Mississauga was celebrated when one of the Tomken Arena twin rinks was dedicated in her name. In 1967, she most famously founded the Mississauga Girls Hockey League, paving the way for thousands of girls to participate in the game, but in 1991 she much less famously founded the Mississauga Women’s Masters Hockey League, to the benefit of a much less likely collection of hockey players.

That fall, watching my eleven-year-old daughter’s first MGHL practices, I found myself coveting her opportunity, but I was well over forty, with no hockey experience beyond a few pond games in a previous life. As far as I knew, women my age didn’t play hockey. Still, sitting in the stands, I couldn’t help imagining myself weaving through those pylons, stopping on a dime, bursting down the rink with everything I had. Until I saw the sign – just a hand-written sheet flapping on the arena bulletin board:

Mississauga Women’s Masters Hockey League
35 Years of Age and Over

And the magic part:        No Experience Necessary

I called the provided number and spoke with Mabel Boyd, almost 70 years young and disappointed in the lack of opportunity for mature women, herself included, to play “the best game in the world.” She was anticipating 4 teams at Tomken Arena, and would be on one of them, with me. I’d be letting her down if I didn’t show.

 I stepped onto the ice wearing a patchwork of family equipment and a smile a mile wide. My daughter’s skates were a little narrow and I thought I’d split her pants every time I sprawled, which was often, but none of that mattered. Mabel and the other “girls” on the ice that evening changed my life. My kids are adults now and their hockey equipment sits idle, but I’m still playing, winter and summer.

The Mississauga Women’s Masters Hockey League never became an actual league. Without enough skaters for four teams, Mabel cancelled half her reserved ice time. Attendance wasn’t steady enough for set teams so we scrimmaged and made sure Mabel didn’t reach into her own pocket to pay for the ice on sparse nights. One season, the already flexed age limit was lifted to encourage participation, and a group of competitive youngsters made a regular raucous appearance, used a separate dressing room, and manhandled us on a weekly basis. “Mabel’s Royal Rumble,” we called it and had jackets made with a big purple and gold crest emblazoned with the moniker. Eventually Mabel’s health kept her off the ice, attendance dwindled too drastically, and we had to bid farewell to the MWMHL, although a few of us still called our beloved leader from time to time to see how she was, and get some tips for our next game.

Members of the group Mabel had assembled at Tomken Arena played together through a few fabulously fun years, until some went on to more competitive levels and the rest of us scattered to various recreational leagues, going out once or twice a week to revel in the sheer fun of playing the game. 

But last fall I got an email from one of them. She was registering a team in the MGHL’s Senior Women’s Sunday evening recreational league and wondered if I’d like to join them. My response was immediate, positive, and accompanied by a smile a mile wide.

I love playing hockey under any circumstance, but I’m thrilled to be playing with my original hockey buds again. The only thing missing is Mabel. But I’m only out there because of Mabel’s tireless promotion of the sport, and thanks to Mabel, the girls of Mississauga have had 42 years of playing “the best game in the world.” Some happily enjoy the house league organization, with many going beyond, year after year, to represent Mississauga proudly as Chiefs in further-flung leagues and tournaments. Some have won Olympic gold, and some of us are joyously playing on in the MGHL’s Senior Women’s House League. Mabel may not have gotten to play in the relatively new Senior Women’s division of the league she founded in 1967, but she’d be more than delighted that there is a Senior Women’s Division with Advanced, Intermediate, and most encouragingly, Beginner levels. Regardless of which MGHL level or division we play in, Mabel’s out there with all of us, every skate.      

Some of us were sporting our “Mabel’s Royal Rumble” jackets at the October 24^th Mabel Boyd plaque dedication at Tomken Arena, to pay tribute to our matriarch. Mabel loved hockey, and thanks to her, thousands more of us love hockey.  Cheers Mabel, and thanks for everything!