The reality of women’s hockey

In February of 2020, The Rally Report (a national study on sport participation by Canadian girls from ages six to 18) determined that one in three girls drop out of sports by their late teens, and that girls are three times more likely to drop out of their respective sports than their male counterparts. This phenomenon may be explained by the fact that 77 percent of girls have said that the lack of female leadership roles in sports has acted as a barrier to their continued participation. Hurdles for women who want to participate in sports continue on, with 70 percent of girls stating that the scarcity of women’s sports coverage also acts as a deterrent, and 43 percent of adolescent girls explaining that it was the quality of their sports experience that acted as an obstacle to their continuation. These statistics highlight the reality of how a female athlete, regardless of their preferred sport, is more prone to dropping out due to a multitude of reasons that exemplify the sexism deeply entrenched in women’s sports.

The sport of hockey is ingrained into both the culture and the identity of Canadians, who support national teams in the NHL, provincial leagues such as the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and primary developmental leagues such as the American Hockey League (AHL). It is an understatement to say that Canadians are deeply invested in the hockey world, yet in the realm of professional hockey, there remain great disparities in both the treatment of and opportunities available for male versus female athletes. The aforementioned leagues are all exclusively male and are well-known, transnational organizations that provide drafted hockey players a living wage. Additionally, they maintain and foster constant training, on top of financial, public, and individual support. Female athletes experience an entirely different side of “professional” hockey. Previously, the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) was the dominant organization for professional women’s games, yet it was deeply flawed. The CWHL was plagued by a scarcity of sponsors, growing financial problems, and poor advertising efforts, which lead to low game turn-out and lack of media interest. The league appeared to take a turn in 2019 when The Toronto Furies were responsible for a dramatic increase in local ticket sales, attendance and media interest, helping to bolster the CWHL. However, despite the newfound success of the Furies, the CWHL eventually collapsed due to a financial breakdown. The downfall of the CWHL was detrimental to the fate of Canadian women’s hockey: the once prominent national league now lay in ruins, leaving no other organization to take its place and forcing players to find work elsewhere. The CWHL’s demise has exacerbated the plight of women’s hockey, creating the impression that a women’s league will never carry the same success, prestige, wealth, and opportunity that any of the men’s leagues have— unless there is a renewed prioritization of women’s sports regarding its coverage and funding.

According to the Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF), women are allotted only 3.2 percent of media coverage due to stations’ focus on providing the “fans with what they want to see”. This allotment not only includes airtime for matches, but also for advertisements of them. One of the most notable problems surrounding Canadian female hockey is its lack of presence and advertising within mainstream sports news. I experienced this issue when I attended my first-ever female hockey game in February of 2019. The game I attended was a part of the Grudge Match Series, a set of games between the USA and Canada. While I was thoroughly impressed by the level of hockey being played, the Grudge Match showcased the common problems associated with women’s hockey in Canada: low ticket prices, low turn-out rate, and no advertisement or coverage marketing the game. These issues display the neglect that women’s hockey players experience in their professional careers. Without a doubt, the need for more media coverage and financial support is necessary for the advancement and improvement of the game.

As of late, women’s sports have had a renewed and invigorated interest. Due to athletes such as Bianca Andreescu, Kia Nurse, Hayley Wickenheiser, and the US Women’s Soccer team, the narrative surrounding women’s sports has begun to change. Andreescu, Nurse, and the US team increased ratings dramatically, while Hayley Wickenheiser was the seventh woman inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame following her retirement from the game. Wickenheiser has become so successful in her hockey career that her name has now become synonymous with the game itself. These women have proven that an audience can enjoy a women’s game if given the opportunity and time to do so. The lack of media coverage and airtime allotted to women’s sports games is a barrier that must be removed, especially as major news organizations such as the CBC take steps to equal out the playing field. In the spring of 2020, CBC committed to making their sports coverage an equal split between both male and female Canadian sports. They acknowledged the difficulty of maintaining this commitment, as men have an abundance of sport’s leagues dedicated to them while none exist for women, yet they remain steadfast in their efforts to remedy this imbalance.

The NHL has also undertaken the task of introducing women’s hockey into the realm of men’s hockey by using their platform and influence. In their efforts, the NHL began to include women demonstrators and an exhibition game in the All-stars Skills week. For example, the 2019 skills week saw three female hockey players demonstrate several of the skills for the event. Specifically, Kendall Coyne test-ran in the Fastest Skate skill and recorded a time of 14.346 seconds. If she were allowed to fully participate, she would have come in second place and be less than a second slower than Connor McDavid’s time of 13.378. The NHL has continued this new rule of allowing female players for two years now, with hopefully no end in sight and a continued push for women’s exposure and acceptance in hockey.

Boys are given 1.13 million more sports opportunities than girls, according to the WSF. It is statistics like these that embolden the fight towards equality and the breaking of the glass ceiling that limits the opportunities and potential of female athletes. It is time for the sports industry— particularly the Canadian hockey community— to become involved in women’s hockey and accept and support the female athletes as they do for men. Good hockey is good hockey, regardless of who’s holding the stick.