The wins may not be coming in yet, but Ryerson’s new women’s hockey team is working hard with an eye towards future glory.

Having just finished its second season, the team is still a Canadian Interuniversity Sports (CIS) probationary team and it has one season to go before it can compete against other universities. Until then, the team is getting ready to be a contender against other universities.

“It’s not something that you can just do overnight,” said Stephanie White, the team’s coach. White led Canada's National Women’s Under-18 team this year to a second place finish against the U.S., along with coaching her first season for Ryerson.

“We’re on track, and growing every year,” she said.

Ryerson’s team finished second last in its division in Toronto’s Golden Blades Women’s Hockey League this season, with five wins out of 24 games.

White said that although the results aren’t great, it was partially because the team chose to skip a division this year. They entered at Tier 4 in their first season, but instead of moving up to Tier 3 this year, they jumped up to the second tier for a challenge.

“We could have easily moved up one and been successful,” White said.

Because of this jump, the team was pitted against a greater number of more experienced teams, and faced players aged 25 to 30. 

“It didn’t help us be successful in winning a bunch of games and making the playoffs and winning a trophy, but it was a step in the right direction,”

White said. “It gave the team a closer look at the level required to play CIS.”

Added to that challenge was a lack of ice time to practise. In downtown it can be hard to get time at a rink, and the ones near campus were not sufficient for what the team needed, according to White.

“It’s an issue for the women’s team, it’s an issue for the men’s team,” she said.

Also, the team will have to cope with players graduating, and filling the holes that are left.

“We’re going to have a big turnover,” White said. “We’re losing five key players out of our team this year.”

However, White sees that as a good sign that the team is becoming established.

“It wasn’t just a one-hit-wonder kind of thing. We’ve got a team, we’ve been around a couple of years, and now players are moving out of the cycle and new players are moving in,” she said.

Although there hasn’t been a huge number of women interested in playing, White said that quality players are now becoming interested as the team finds its footing. Players like these are what the team needs to contend with other universities in the future, according to White.

“Now some players who play in the top leagues in southern Ontario are interested in coming to Ryerson,” she said. “A year ago they wouldn’t have come.”

Ryerson increased the team’s budget for next year, part of a gradual plan to bring the team up to the level of support that full varsity teams receive.

“I think they’re not just looking at how they plan for the year directly in front of them, they’re looking a little bit bigger,” White said of the university’s support.

White is thinking big, too. She said that making it out of probation and into the interuniversity league in 2010 is only step one.

Margo Tzemis, a player on the team, thought the season could have gone better, but when it comes down to playing the game, Tzemis said that she loved the experience. “It doesn’t matter that it was probationary, it was amazing, the girls are amazing,” she said.