By Jesse Granger (The Athletic)

Sheri Hudspeth is director of the Golden Knights’ girls and women’s youth hockey program, coaches the 12U girls travel team and oversees the growth of girls hockey in Las Vegas. She’s been a big part of the tremendous expansion of youth hockey in the valley, especially on the girls side, where USA Hockey registration numbers have risen 681 percent since the Golden Knights arrived in 2017.

In 2016-17, the year before the Golden Knights began playing, there were only 67 girls and women registered with USA Hockey in Nevada. That number increased steadily over the next four years, to 107 in 2017-18, 204 in 2018-19 and 232 in 2019-20. But over the last two years, the number of girls youth hockey participants in Nevada has more than doubled, reaching an all-time high of 523 women and girls registered with USA Hockey in 2021-22.

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