In states like Minnesota where hockey rules the sporting world, moms are now dropping off their kids at sporting practices before heading to their own hockey team practice.

In recent years the sport's popularity among the female gender has increased; an estimated 2,000 women today participate in regular practice clinics or play in hockey leagues such Chicks with Sticks, according to the Los Angeles Times. The Olympics allowed women's hockey into the event in 1998, and the U.S. team narrowly missed getting the gold against the Canadian team at Sochi this year.

Furthering Minnesota's dominance in the nation's hockey community, the University of Minnesota women's team won last year's Division 1 national championship, earning them a trip to Washington, D.C., where they met with President Barack Obama.

Chicks with Sticks is a hockey program in Minnesota designed for girls and women of all ages to learn the sport of hockey. They can also sign up to be part of a beginner or advanced league.

Hockey fanatic Mike Curti, along with a few women, brought the organization to life 12 years ago. Curti is one of the main instructors and coaches for CWS and has helped more than 300 girls and women find their hockey legs with his coaching.

"At the start they're tentative. A lot apologize if they collide with somebody," he said. "Slowly, they get more aggressive.

Judy Van Voorhis, a 48-year-old retired Army lieutenant colonel and mother of three, reminisced to the Times about the first time she joined a CWS clinic three years ago.

She looked back at the first time she saw women playing the sport.

"They swung their sticks -- gosh, it was ugly. I never heard language like that, even in the army," the veteran recalled. "Hockey just looked like so much fun; I just never had time."

The girls and women in CWS play in 60-minute games, and Voorhis recalls being exhausted before the third period of her first game. She said her husband, a longtime hockey coach, and her oldest son, a University of Denver defenseman, used to tease her upon first learning how to play by calling her Little Jo and would challenge her to learn how to skate. Since learning how to play hockey, Voorhis has mastered many facets of the game including the "Superman fall" and the backward crossover.

Curti said the games are purely recreational, and the league doesn't keep score. However, Martha Friedel, 50-year-old mother of two and a three-year CWS player, insisted that players do.

"We keep score," Friedel said. "We always know."

Related