There has always been a numbers issue for Bill MacDonald and the Weston/Wayland girl's hockey program, but this year the head coach and the schools had to do a little thinking outside the box.
Due to low numbers, and with a threat that a full team wouldn't be able to suit up, MacDonald and the program got permission to allow eighth graders to play on the team with a waiver from the MIAA and the parents.
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Those waivers produced five more players, and with a total of 14 girls on the team, there will be girls hockey in the towns of Weston and Wayland this winter.
Neither town has a youth hockey program for girls, so garnering interest in a game that costs more money than most sports and more time efforts than most has been a problem. MacDonald, who has been coaching hockey since 1979, conducts learn-to-skate programs for K-8 students on the weekends, teaching the ins-and-outs of skating and the game of hockey.
But he knows there is only one thing that is going to induce some real interest in the sport, and that's winning games.
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"I'm hoping we will improve over the years and get more kids involved," said MacDonald. "I think if we have success at the top we will get some excitement at the younger ages and the numbers will come."
The Weston/Wayland squad struggled to a winless record last year, but MacDonald saw signs of life in his team late in the season. Andrea Defina played goalie for the first time, and with some more seasoning she could be ready to keep the puck out of the net.
MacDonald believes that the strength of the team is in the defense, and Wayland's Jess Greenwood will be spearheading that charge. Also helping out on the defense will be Weston's Sara Coburn and Katherine Goguen.
Goguen, a freshman, will be asked to carry the puck from the defensive end to kick-start an offensie unit headed by Weston's Cara Lembo.
MacDonald knows all about building programs, as he was there in the infant stages of the Harvard women's teams when they weren't busy competing for national titles. MacDonald spent 13 years in the system, before moving on to coach Natick and then Weston/Wayland, where he has been for the past eight-plus seasons.
A few wins under the teams belt could help jump start the program and get the girls hockey team some more numbers in the future.
"It has been a struggle to get players so far," said MacDonald, "but we keep hoping that we will get some traction with the program."