A longtime member of the Williams Lake Minor Hockey Association is being honoured by BC Hockey as a ‘Difference Maker’ in her and the province’s hockey communities.
Jennifer Loewen, member of the Minor Hockey Association and long-time member of BC Hockey, has been awarded BC Hockey’s Life Members’ Executive Award for the 2024-2025 season.
The award is a reflection of Loewen’s dedication to the sport of hockey. Loewen has been the Female Hockey Coordinator since 2019, and has grown women’s and girls’ hockey across the province and the Yukon.
She is also the Chair of the Nominating Committee for BC Hockey.
“It [the award] means that all the work that we’ve done hasn’t gone unnoticed,” Loewen says in the award announcement release. She also mentioned that the work has not been a sole effort.
“It’s not just me. There is always someone alongside me.”
Loewen has been a part of establishing BC Hockey’s ‘Female Hockey Model‘, which revised the way BC Hockey establishes and runs programs to grow girls’ hockey. The Model also created Elite Female Programs such as the Female U18 AAA, Female Program of Excellence, and South Coast Women’s Hockey League.
Loewen has also established connections with Junior Hockey programs to take female players into USports.
It is this work and growth of the sport that Loewen says she takes the most pride in seeing.
“Watching these girls come along and seeing them out in the community and now starting to coach – to me that’s where I’ve found the most value in the work that we’ve done.”
The growth of female hockey has grown significantly through the Female Hockey Model, which other provincial organizations across the country have noticed. It has influenced many of these organizations to adapt the BC Hockey Model to work for their province.
Following Loewen’s and BC Hockey’s lead.
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