{"id":1186,"date":"2019-06-14T15:18:42","date_gmt":"2019-06-14T19:18:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/engagingsports\/?p=1186"},"modified":"2019-06-14T15:39:52","modified_gmt":"2019-06-14T19:39:52","slug":"__trashed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/engagingsports\/2019\/06\/14\/__trashed\/","title":{"rendered":"North American Women\u2019s Ice Hockey Players Struggle for a League of Their Own"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Calgary<\/a>
Calgary Inferno’s Zoe Hickel (left) and Tori Hickel celebrate winning the 2019 Canadian Women’s Hockey League Clarkson Cup after beating Les Canadiennes de Montreal. The league discontinued operations on May 1, 2019. (photo by Chris Young\/Canadian Press)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Women\u2019s professional team sports seem to be flourishing, especially basketball in China and the United States (WNBA), and various soccer leagues in Europe. The news is not so good for women\u2019s ice hockey in North America.<\/p>\n

The Canadian Women\u2019s Hockey League (CWHL) discontinued operations on May 1, 2019. In the U.S., the recently established National Women\u2019s Hockey League (NWHL) is in a vulnerable position. Many of the players are hoping to develop a more stable women\u2019s league by partnering with the National Hockey League (NHL), following the model established by the WNBA and the women\u2019s soccer leagues in Europe.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

As a sociologist of sport, I am interested in the conditions under which women and men play sports. Here, I consider some of the potential risks of partnering with a men\u2019s league and suggest some alternative ways of developing a successful women\u2019s hockey league.<\/p>\n

Player solidarity<\/h2>\n

At the end of March 2019, a week after\u00a0the Calgary Inferno won the Clarkson Cup<\/a>\u00a0(the women\u2019s equivalent of the Stanley Cup), the CWHL announced that it was closing down because it was \u201ceconomically unsustainable.\u201d That announcement was overshadowed by\u00a0a remarkable statement signed by more than 200 professional players from the CWHL and the NWHL<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Les<\/a>
Les Canadiennes de Montreal\u2019s goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer makes a save during the 2019 Clarkson Cup game. (Photo by Chris Young)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The players\u2019 statement \u2014 fittingly released on May 1st \u2014 declared that \u201cwe will not play in ANY professional leagues in North America this season until we get the resources that professional hockey demands and deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this unusual demonstration of solidarity by professional athletes, the CWHL players highlighted the circumstances under which they had been working. Using the Twitter hashtag, #ForTheGame, the players declared:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot make a sustainable living playing in the current state of the professional game. Having no health insurance and making as low as two thousand dollars a season means players can\u2019t adequately train and prepare to play at the highest level.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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We may represent different teams, leagues and countries but collectively we stand as one. \u00a0 #ForTheGame<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/O9MOOL8YOt<\/a><\/p>\n

— Hilary Knight (@HilaryKnight) May 2, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n