Her goal: Boost women’s hockey

For the past three years, Kelley Steadman has been working to improve women’s hockey in Pittsburgh off the ice as a member of the Robert Morris coaching staff.

Next weekend, she’ll get to show off what she can do on the ice.

Steadman, who also plays for the Buffalo Beauts of the National Women’s Hockey League, will be one of the captains for its All-Star weekend Feb. 11-12 at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry.

The other captain will be Amanda Kessel, whose brother, Phil, plays for the Penguins.

“I was really excited when we heard it was going to happen here, just because I’ve lived here for three years, worked with a lot of girl hockey players in the area,” Steadman said.

“There’s a huge market for it. I think once we can kind of tap into that, it’s going to take off.”

Steadman pointed out that, growing up in Plattsburgh, N.Y., she didn’t have programs like Penguins Elite to help foster her interest in the sport.

The explosion in the Pittsburgh youth hockey scene over the past few years certainly has applied to girls as well.

According to USA Hockey, Western Pennsylvania had 1,221 female players registered in 2015-16, the most in the Mid-American region, which spans from Pennsylvania to Indiana.

The fastest-growing demographic for hockey players over the past year across the country is girls 10 and under.

“Just to have that support, it’ll definitely help it grow,” Steadman said.

“I think you’ve seen that even within the last couple of years, how many more girls have joined in playing.”

And if those girls keep playing, Steadman is hoping they know their careers don’t have to end after high school.

She recalled not necessarily being sure what her hockey future held in store when she was a teenager, but she ended up playing collegiately at Mercyhurst and — after brief stints with the U.S. national team and the CWHL — finding a professional career, too.

“Before this league was created, [female players] didn’t really have a whole lot to look forward to after high school,” Steadman said.

“Now, college is obviously a huge part of that, and I think more and more girls are getting involved in college teams.”

In her role as director of hockey operations at Robert Morris, Steadman and the rest of the Colonials coaching staff — particularly assistant coach Chelsea Walkland — has implemented a Big Sister Little Sister program that brings youth players from the Penguins Elite program to Robert Morris games and lets them interact with the team.

“Just getting girls to come to those games and see what college hockey is about is huge,” Steadman said.

At the NWHL All-Star Game, she also hopes to show potential future players as well as just fans of the game what pro women’s hockey is all about.

“It’s a lot more physical, and there’s more talent than people think,” Steadman said.

“Obviously, since there’s no checking, people don’t think it’s maybe as exciting.

“But, when you get some of the best hockey players in the world out there, it’s a good game.”