WILMINGTON - Some of the most talented women's hockey players in the country have come together at Ristuccia Rink in Wilmington in preparation for the 2006 Olympic Trials.

These women range in age from high school standout to Olympic veteran, but that such a practice can come together is a testament on how far woman's hockey has come along in the last decade.

This program is run by Paul Kennedy, a Woburn resident. Kennedy is the head coach of Cushing Academy's girls hockey team and has been involved in the sport for more than 15 years. He says that he started this program up because he noticed that women's players generally have trouble getting ice time.

"There no place for (girls) to play," Kennedy said. "I just started it up to get them to just keep playing."

Kennedy started the program a year ago. He saw the success of it and decided with his daughter Courtney to get all the elite college players together into one place.

"We wanted to put one thing together for elite high school players, college players, and national players to come play at a high level," Courtney Kennedy said.

Paul Kennedy says it wasn't difficult to get the word out. Some players are from the local area, but they also come all the way from Michigan.

"We spread it through word of mouth," he said. "People know me. Last year we had forty players and this year we have forty plus. They do it six hours a week for ten weeks. That's a lot of ice. Most people don't do that."

Many of the participants in this program were on the 2002 Olympic Team that took home the silver medal in Salt Lake City. Shelley Looney was a part of that team and the 1998 team that won gold in Nagano. She said that women's hockey really took off after the 1998 team won gold.

"You saw a big jump after the '98 Olympics. Hockey is very addicting when you get to watch it."

Voice of experience...

Courtney Kennedy says that the times have really changed since she was a young player.

"There are a lot more girls playing on girls teams. When I was growing up I only played on boys teams."

Julie Chu was also a member of the 2002 team. At the age of 19, she was one of the youngest players on the team. Now 23 and a star at Harvard, she says that the 2002 Olympics was an event she never will forget.

"It was one of the greatest experiences of my life," she said. "It's an honor to be able to represent your country."

The 2006 Olympics will be played in Torino, Italy. The two favorites are considered to be the U.S. and Canada.

"Canada is our big rival," Chu said. "We've been battling them since 1990. We really push each other every year to make sure we don't become complacent."

However, as women's hockey becomes more of global sport, other countries have started to jump into the picture more and more.

"It's always been U.S. vs. Canada, but Finland and Sweden are creeping closer," said Jamie Hagerman, a former Harvard player.

So what is the future of women's hockey? Will it go the way of women's softball, which just got dropped from the 2008 Olympics? Or will it go the way of women's basketball, which has many recognizable players and coaches and has its own professional league? Kathleen Kauth, a former player at Brown hoping to make the 2006 team, hopes it's the latter.

"I would hope it would be something like basketball," she said. "I would hope to get more good coaches like Paul. The top level talent is good but there just isn't any depth."

Paul Kennedy also hopes that women's hockey keeps expanding, and believes the answer begins with women taking the reigns over from the men.

"Women's hockey has been the fastest growing part of USA Hockey. I'm hoping it keeps going that way. The trick is to get the right women involved. You got to get the guys out and the girls involved, and I think we're a few years away from that."