NH Selects
Year Honored: 2024
The 1970s was an evolutionary time in women’s hockey. “USA Hockey has nurtured the growth of female hockey since the 1970s, and today, girl’s hockey is among the fastest-growing youth sports in the United States. According to USA Hockey, women’s hockey has seen a participation increase of 65%. Despite this, hockey continues to be a male dominated sport, as only around 15% of hockey players are women. (USA Hockey, Jan 25, 2024) The decade saw many club teams generated throughout the United States and Canada. Girls longing to play faced barriers and were routinely rejected by boys’ teams. Fortunately, coaches with a heart for the girls and the game responded. USA Hockey reports a total of 108 women’s teams across the NCAA with nearly 700 U S players on rosters this past season. Even with this significant increase, female hockey continues to be a male dominated sport and only 15% of hockey players are women. With that landscape as a backdrop, the early success of the New Hampshire Selects becomes even more unique and remarkable!
At the youth level, New Hampshire Ice Hockey dates back to 1925, when according to a Concord Monitor report on February 14, 1925, “four games were played and the boys, as well as the girls, were fortified with hockey sticks as far as the eye could travel”. Doug Everett, a 1932 Olympian, along with local youth advocate, Officer Andrews, were involved in a three-team league at White Park. Andrews released the rosters on December 29, 1936 with 26 girls under the age of 17 playing on these teams. A few of the names likely to be familiar to those who know Concord and White Park include Ianuzzo, Champagne, Cozzi, Marchand and Faretra.
By the late 1970’s, sisters of hockey playing brothers, figure skaters, recreational pond hockey aficionados and those curious to participate served notice that the time for girls-only hockey was now. Bud Blake, St. Paul’s School Athletic Director in Concord, entertained a visit from two female students seeking to start a team. He liked the idea and had just the right coach in mind. In 1980, Sandy Sistare became St. Paul’s first girl’s hockey coach. While ‘The Big Red’ went 0 – 4, the race for the puck was on! For one, the girls received ‘rink time’ instead of ‘pond time’. Cynthia Ferris laced them up that year and remembers how ‘exciting it was to be part of the first wave of girls hockey’. A few years later, Suzanne Walker played goal for St. Paul’s before moving on to Bowdoin College. The program at St. Paul’s continues to this day.
New London resident, Jay Jones, played on New England College’s inaugural hockey team in 1970 and scored their very first goal. When his daughter Carey, later to play hockey at Bowdoin, urged him to put a girls’ team together, Jay couldn’t say no. So, in the winter of 1984 – ’85, he embraced the challenge, and with assistance from Robin Seabolt, recruited several local players to create the Kearsarge Youth Hockey team. By the second year, girls from the Concord area joined in. Some of their earliest opponents were Assabet Valley MA, Rochester NH and Philips Exeter Academy. Kearsarge practiced and played games at the Proctor Academy rink in Andover, NH.
Along with the Concord players, Upper Valley girls found their way onto the team along with coaching help from Mike Mounsey, Toby Acres and Jay Campion. Kearsarge competitors were mostly recently established girls’ prep school teams similar to those at St. Paul’s. Fortunately, the growth of women’s hockey increased the number of teams and improved scheduling opportunities.
By the time Kearsarge’s 1987-88 season started, Dennis Nolin had arrived and brought along his daughter, Gena, as a player. With new uniforms and a name change, the Kearsarge girls’ team became the NH Selects. Times were changing in women’s hockey. Girls across America now played as early as age five. Most were on combined boys’ and girls’ teams. By Pee Wee, full contact was the norm. However, rules stated that there was no checking in the girls’ games.
Coach Dave Boudrias recalled that the Selects played 55 games in a single season and 22 of those were against boys’ teams. As a 14-year-old, eighth grader, Tara Mounsey spent her ice time playing against both girls and boys. She was tri-captain of the Selects along with Sue Bernard and Steph Acres, and while the Selects had three New England Regional titles to their credit, the National crown still eluded them.
By their fifth season, the Selects were tearing through their opponents, outscoring them 118 to 46 while recording a 14- 4 -1 record. Players from the 1988-89 team included skaters Steph Acres, Stacy Boudrias, Laurie Catino, Carey Jones, Sheila Killion, Tara Mounsey, Gena Nolin, Erin Rath, Lori Rice, Tinei’lle Rice, Diana Schoeller, Amy Stanley, Nicole Walls and Jessica Wright. The goaltending duties were shared by Tasha Fine and Bo Traner.
Despite their humble beginnings, and just a few short years after the coaches and players began their climb to the top, Boudrias now had the luxury of picking his team from the best on the ice and observed correctly, “This is really an all-star team.” But winning a championship didn’t come easy. The girls were spread out across the state with two players living in Vermont. Practicing had its challenges. In fact, the Selects didn’t have a full team practice until six hours before their first tournament game at the Nationals in Minnesota, but coaches Boudrias, Nolin and Diane Richie remained confident.
Having captured their third straight regional title with wins over Maine, Connecticut and Rhode Island, this determined group of 13 – 15-year-olds from across New Hampshire, along with two additions from Vermont, now set their sights on the National Championships of the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States in Duluth Minnesota. The NH Selects had been overshadowed by two powerful Massachusetts Pee Wee and Midget teams who had a stranglehold on women’s hockey. However, Chelmsford would soon learn what it felt like to be on the receiving end. The ‘92 Selects dominated the regular season with an impressive 32 -12 – 4 record. Their 5 – 0 run and 28 – 4 tournament goal differentials against America’s best secured the elusive National title they would so proudly bring home to New Hampshire!
Steph Acres had this to say, “We all put 100 percent to winning and we knew we had a good shot at it,” then backed up her statement with a hat-trick against Michigan and two against Illinois. The Selects handed Minnesota’s Fergus Falls a 10 -1 drubbing before Sue Bernard posted the shut out against Illinois for a 4 -0 win. Michigan was next to go down with an 8 – 1 loss, setting up a tilt with perennial powerhouse Chelmsford, Massachusetts. They crumbled under the pressure and determination of the Selects who won that contest 4 – 1. Now, only one team stood between New Hampshire and the national title.
With a home state advantage, the Minnesota Thoroughbreds left the starting gate and struck first. Kendra Richey tied it up in the second and from there the race was neck and neck. Sixteen minutes into the third, Tara Mounsey skated end to end, split the defense and went top corner, leading to a desperate sprint to the finish line. When asked later, Mounsey recalled, “I knew it was going to be the longest four minutes I ever played,” then added, “they had some good chances to score.” But the team refused to fold down the backstretch. Bernard held tight between the rails and thwarted the final charge, edging the Thoroughbreds by a nose.
The champs returned home to the Granite State with an impressive 5-0 record, a 2-1 win and a National Crown. Fortunately for the Select’s faithful, the action was captured for local television by the Yankee Cable Network (YCN). Producer/Director David Hand was in Minnesota with broadcaster Jim Rivers and Color Commentator, Jeff Cain to bring the play by play. It was April 1992 when the Select’s victory culminated as the highlight of the organization’s 21 years of hockey! That final game can still be viewed at the on-line Museum of the Legends of Hockey website.
Select players caught the attention of collegiate coaches. Brown University coach, Digit Murphy had this to say, “I love NH players. I see kids from NH and they have a lot of heart. They’re down to earth and just want to play. They’re genuine.” Within five years of their national title, eight of twelve ECAC teams featured Selects on their rosters. Mounsey and Salem High School star athlete, Katie King, played at Brown and both became top players for Team USA. Six other Selects went on to stellar college careers. As a freshman forward at Northeastern, Concord’s Steph Acres was three-time Rookie of the Week and Beanpot MVP. Bishop Brady teammates Gena Nolin and Stacy Boudrias played for Boston College and St. Lawrence respectively; Sara Nelson of Hanover teamed up with Jaime Arndt of Concord at Dartmouth; Gofftown’s Sue Bernard backed Bowdoin in goal and Kelly Boutin, who played for Tabor Academy, made her way to Cornell.
In 1997, Mounsey reflected on her early hockey experience, “It’s so important to have a place to play for girls. Not everyone has the size and strength to play with the guys, so the Selects is a great place to develop.” Without these crucial hockey opportunities, players like Arndt might not have found her way to Dartmouth. She credits the Selects as her source of confidence and experience and agreed with Mounsey’s assessment, “The Selects provided that outlet for me. Having a place for the girls is extremely important.” High level programs provided the discipline, confidence and connections that lead to success for players such as these and were likely a formative time for the other women on that special squad as well.
In 1972, Congress enacted Title lX, which, in part, expanded women’s athletic programs. In doing so, it also created residual benefits for colleges and high schools. It ensured both legal and practical assistance to further the opportunities for young athletes regardless of gender.
Fortunately, inspired girls, dedicated coaches and supportive parents in communities across America were motivated by their love of hockey rather than a mandate from Congress. They wanted their players to be the best that they could be. On that April day in 1992, the New Hampshire Selects demonstrated, unequivocally, that they were indeed the best. The Selects formally suspended hockey operations in 2006.
With a special thanks to Jay Jones, the early architect of the project, we also acknowledge the outstanding contributions of all the coaches and support staff over the years. From its meager beginnings in 1983-84, NH girls’ youth hockey has grown from a mere handful to more than a thousand strong! We wish to salute every woman who pulled on a team jersey and honor the outstanding accomplishments of the entire organization.