HOCKEY BOYCOTT AVERTED
U.S. players get wage agreement
USA Hockey struck an 11th-hour deal Tuesday night with boycotting players from its national women’s hockey team that will allow the United States to compete in the world championships.
The women’s team vowed to boycott the tournament if USA Hockey wouldn’t address the players’ concerns over what they felt was inadequate compensation and support.
The year’s biggest event begins Friday in Plymouth, Mich.
Terms of the agreement were not immediately available, though a person familiar with the negotiations said players agreed to a fouryear deal. USA Hockey’s executive board held an emergency meeting Monday to consider its options and players voted on the deal Tuesday evening.
“Our sport is the big winner today,” team captain Meghan Duggan said in a statement. “We stood up for what we thought was right and USA Hockey’s leadership listened. In the end, both sides came together.”
Jim Smith, president of USA Hockey, also released a statement.
“Today reflects everyone coming together and compromising in order to reach a resolution for the betterment of the sport. We’ll now move forward together knowing we’ll look back on this day as one of the most positive in the history of USA Hockey.”
While financial terms were not disclosed, as a part of the deal USA Hockey agreed to form an advisory group that will work “to advance girls’ and women’s hockey in all areas, including programming, marketing, promotion and fundraising,” according to a statement from USA Hockey.
With an agreement in place, the players are expected to take the ice for their opening-round game Friday against Canada.
The quarrel focused a bright spotlight on USA Hockey, bringing attention to the disparity in resources afforded to the men’s and women’s national teams. Twenty U.S. senators weighed in Monday with a letter to Dave Ogrean, the executive director of USA Hockey, urging the organization to resolve the dispute. USA Hockey doesn’t pay the women in non-Olympic years and gives each a total of $6,000 in the year leading up to a Winter Games. The players demanded higher wages and urged USA Hockey to make a bigger investment in its developmental programs targeting young girls.
The organization had been exploring the possibility of fielding a team of replacement players, and executives were scrambling in recent days for a solution.
“USA Hockey’s role is not to employ athletes and we will not do so,” Smith said last week in a statement. “USA Hockey will continue to provide world-leading support for our athletes.”
The men’s team isn’t paid in nonOlympic years, but that squad is typically composed of well-compensated NHL players. The women’s players don’t have the same deep-pocketed sources of revenue.
With its tournament opener slated for Friday, the American squad missed its entire scheduled training camp.
Other teams, meanwhile, participated in their regular practices to prepare for the world championships. The Canadian squad, the four-time Olympic champs, wrapped up practices Monday and were headed to Michigan, not certain whether they’d even have a first-round opponent.
Monday’s letter from Senate Democrats to USA Hockey noted the women’s national team “deserves fairness and respect.”
The players had also been buoyed by messages of support from across the sports world. Some have suggested the men’s team would similarly boycott its world championships, in May, in solidarity. Last week all four major sports unions issued statements of support, and a wide range of athletes, such as soccer star Abby Wambach and basketball players Sue Bird and Brittney Griner, voiced their support on social media.
We stood up for what we thought was right and USA Hockey’s leadership listened.