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Girls have an option with local hockey club

Dayton Bombers youth organization has solid program for area girls.

Beavercreek hockey player Sydney Leiher (pronounced Lear) takes shots during practice. Leiher is one of the top girls cross country runners in the area. She's also a standout hockey player, on the boys team. Steve Iiams is owner of Tooling Zone, a machine shop moving from Springboro to Kettering. His is the latest of six businesses or institutions moving or planning to move from another area community to Springboro.Barbara Pontecorvo is owner of Pontecorvo Ballet and wife of David Shough, who heads Gem City Ballet. they are moving their concerns from Dayton to Springboro.

Jim Witmer Beavercreek hockey player Sydney Leiher (pronounced Lear) takes shots during practice. Leiher is one of the top girls cross country runners in the area. She's also a standout hockey player, on the boys team. Steve Iiams is owner of Tooling Zone, a machine shop moving from Springboro to Kettering. His is the latest of six businesses or institutions moving or planning to move from another area community to Springboro.Barbara Pontecorvo is owner of Pontecorvo Ballet and wife of David Shough, who heads Gem City Ballet. they are moving their concerns from Dayton to Springboro.

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Jim Witmer

ENLARGE PHOTO

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By Dave Long, Contributing Writer Updated 6:38 PM Friday, December 24, 2010

Hockey opportunities for girls are not plentiful in the Dayton area.

USA Hockey, the sport’s governing body, has several team classifications. Tier One and Tier Two AA squads feature the most talented players who may move on to college and international competition.

Dayton-area kids must do a lot of driving to find those kind of teams. In this region, that means treks to Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Detroit or Fort Wayne.

Top players have the option of moving in-season to other cities or attending private boarding schools with top-level teams. Two such schools are Culver Academy in northern Indiana and Gilmour Academy near Cleveland.

The Dayton Bombers youth hockey organization hopes its Miami Valley Panthers girls 19-under team eventually will develop into a top-tier program.

“We started two years ago so local girls playing hockey would stay here,” Panthers coach Jim Bayer said. “There’s a lot of girls who learn to play in the different youth programs who are really, really good. But when they get to high school level, the game becomes a lot faster and a lot more physical.

“Some of the girls who can handle that pace will play on their boys high school teams. The ones who really wanted to stay with it at the girls level (where there is no checking) had to be on the road.”

This season there are 19 area players on the Panthers roster, two who also play for the Indy Racers Tier Two program.

“For being only in our third year, we’re very competitive,” Bayer said. “More of the talented local players are staying home and developing their talent as the program grows.”

There are three major youth hockey programs in the area — Dayton Bombers, Dayton Bluehawks and Troy Bruins.

Information on the Bombers program may be found at www.dbyhl.com. The Dayton Bluehawks website is www.DaytonBlue hawks.com. Troy Bruins information is available through www.hobartareana.com.

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