Ashton Bell knows what it means to young girls to get a chance to play hockey with female professional players. It’s the reason the Vancouver Goldeneyes captain has dedicated a large chunk of her off-season to running camps for kids. “I didn’t have really many opportunities like these, where you have pro athletes for one out here on the ice with you,” she said Monday at the Goldeneyes’ youth summer camp in Surrey, B.C. “And also female coaches as well-being out on the ice with you, coaching you, and being surrounded by girls … It’s just cool to see where women’s hockey has gone and how it’s grown so much.” Bell is part of the growth not only in Vancouver, but in rural Manitoba where she’s from. Last week, the Goldeneyes defender held a camp near her hometown of Deloraine, bringing 80 girls together for sessions on everything from skating and skills to team-building and mental performance. She returned to Vancouver on Sunday night and the next morning she was once again on the ice, working with kids. “I think these (camps) are huge now that women’s sports is blooming and we have a pro team in Vancouver,” Bell said. ”I think it’s super important for us to get out here and to interact with them on a personal level and for them to see pro athletes and to see what they can aspire to be one day.” This week’s Goldeneyes camp is something of a full-circle moment for Vancouver forward Katie Chan, who grew up in nearby Richmond, B.C. “It’s always really special to be able to do these camps and skate with these kids that play on teams that I either played on or played against,” she said. ”It’s really cool to see the hockey community come together.” A lot has changed in women’s hockey since many of the Goldeneyes players were the age of the kids they’re now coaching. The sport is more accessible than ever, said forward Jenn Gardiner. “It’s just so special to know that these girls who are six, seven, eight years old starting hockey, they only know a world with women’s hockey in it,” said Gardiner. ”We get to be the people they look up to. “It’s not every four years at the Olympics where they have to wait to watch women’s hockey, they can watch it every single night when they turn on the TV.” It’ll be awhile yet before hockey fans can see PWHL games on TV again. The league hasn’t released its schedule for the 2026-27 season, but play won’t resume until the IIHF women’s world championships in Denmark wrap on Nov. 16. That will mean the Goldeneyes will go about six months without playing a game after finishing their inaugural campaign sixth in the PWHL and outside of the playoff race. Missing post-season play is a feeling that will fuel the group in the coming season, Gardiner said. “It was really tough in May to be sitting at home, knowing that the playoffs were happening,” she said. ”So I think that’s a feeling that we don’t want to happen again. I think that’s a feeling that we’re going to do anything to avoid. “And we know how hard it’s going to be this season, especially with four new teams coming into play, it makes the playoff race that much harder.” Las Vegas, San Jose, Detroit and Hamilton are all getting teams next season, growing the league from six teams in 2024-25 to 12 in just two years. Expansion meant many of the eight clubs that played last season will see dramatic overhauls to their lineups. Seattle Torrent captain Hilary Knight will suit up for Detroit and Hamilton nabbed forward Brianne Jenner, an original piece of the Ottawa Charge. Vancouver escaped largely unscathed, keeping the vast majority of their big names, including forward Sarah Nurse and goalie Emerance Maschmeyer. “I think that, especially because we have a roster that’s similar to year one, we all know what we went through last year, what we need to improve on, and what to look forward to,” Chan said. “To have a year under our belt and just carry through together as a group, I think is really special. And I think we’re going to hit the ground running this year.” One big change for the Goldeneyes will come behind the bench. The team parted ways with head coach Brian Idalski at the end of the season. Vancouver then announced last month that Cara Gardner Morey would take over the role, leaving her position as the club’s general manager. “She stepped away from coaching after coaching 15 plus years in Princeton, so I think she definitely missed being out on the ice,” Bell said. ”Her passion is coaching, and that’s where she feels she can have the biggest impact. So we’re definitely excited for her to step into that role.” Before making the switch, Gardner Morey added to Vancouver’s roster, selecting American defender Caroline “KK” Harvey with the first overall pick in June’s PWHL draft. Knowing who’s going to be on the team when training camp finally begins has everyone eagerly anticipating the season’s start, Bell said. “I think we learned a lot from last season, and we really liked where we ended off as a group. And we got lucky enough that we have a lot of the same girls returning and coming back,” she said. “Just knowing that we’re going to have a pretty similar group, and we’re bringing in a ton of talent as well in our draft class, it’s definitely really exciting for us.” This report by Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press, was first published Aug. 17, 2026.
