
NASHUA, NH – After much interest from the community, Nashua could see a girls’ ice hockey team for the 2025-2026 winter season.
The Board of Education on Monday approved two proposals, which is the first step to making that happen.
Currently, Nashua has two boys ice hockey cooperative teams: Nashua High School North and Souhegan High School, and Nashua High School South and Pelham High School.
The first proposal involves dissolving the North-Souhegan, and South-Pelham high school boys hockey teams and creating a new North-South ice hockey program to free up financial and facility resources for the opportunity to create a girls’ ice hockey program, which was the second motion.
The proposed girls’ ice hockey team is a cooperative team with Nashua North, Nashua South, and Souhegan High School. The financial responsibility of each school would be based on the percentage of students from each school on the roster as of the first game, according to Nashua School District athletic director Lisa Gingras.
“Souhegan has seen declining participation [with their girls hockey program] over the past several years and with the increase in interest in our city, this is a win-win for everybody,” she said.
Budgetarily, she says the cost of both teams should be similar to what the district has already been paying for the two existing boys ice hockey teams. Both the girls and boys teams would play at Conway Arena.
“I’m loving that [we’re talking] about doing the girl’s hockey, and I know that this was definitely a heart drive of this board to support that because it came from the community,” said board member Shewanda Daniels-Williams.
Board member Rob Johnson also shared his excitement for the possibility, and said that the topic of girls’ ice hockey was something parents approached him about when he was running for a seat on the board.
The final say on whether or not these teams come to fruition is up to the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletics Association (NHIAA) and their various committees and council.
According to Gingras, one of the bylaw requirements is that the total combined enrollment of each school on the cooperative team cannot be bigger than the enrollment at the biggest school in the state, Pinkerton Academy, which has about 3,100 students.
While she says the precedent has already been set with Manchester having been approved for an ice hockey team made up of three schools with a combined enrollment of 3,300 students, the combined enrollment for the proposed girls team would be a little more than 4,000, which she says is a concern.
However, since Souhegan High School has an existing girls’ ice hockey team, she feels the NHIAA may allow it, and believes that this is the best chance for a girls’ ice hockey team in Nashua.
The verdict from the NHIAA is expected in May.