Young female players rally against gender inequality
Calgary Fire hockey player Asha Jamieson, 14, says the collapse of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League has left promising players with no chance to move forward in the sport they love.
Unless something changes, that is — and Jamieson and others are fighting for just that.
About 20 young Calgary players and former CWHL athletes took to the ice on Saturday at the Seton YMCA to raise awareness about gender inequality in Canadian hockey at the Secret Equal Sweat, Equal Opportunity Skate Rally with hopes to inspire a viable women’s professional hockey league.
“We all want a chance to go somewhere with hockey,” said Jamieson.
“There should be a league for girls like us ... so we’re not stuck in midget and bantam and then have nowhere to go after that” — except for maybe university, she said.
The rally in Calgary had about 20 participants, and similar events took place in Montreal and Toronto on the same day ahead of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association Dream Gap Tour in Toronto next weekend that will draw attention to the lack of opportunity and support for professional female hockey players in North America.
“I think it’s really important that we show young girls across the country who love and excel at hockey that they can live our their dreams to play at the highest professional level just like men can,” said Lisa Reid, Secret brand director for Canada.
Reid said Secret, the women’s deodorant brand that has partnered with the women’s players association, was driven to shine a light on the continued inequality in Canada for female hockey players after the CWHL folded in May, citing an “economically unsustainable” business model.
Former CWHL player Erica Kromm, who played for the championship Calgary Inferno team, said the decision to shutter the national women’s league was disappointing but not surprising.
“My reaction was it was unfortunate but, at the same time, I wasn’t extremely devastated because I knew this whole road of women’s hockey and trying to get a league going and making it sustainable financially is a tough road,” said Kromm, who added that building a dedicated fan base is key to creating a sustainable league.
She said she’s honoured to continue her advocacy through the players association.
“I feel like it’s a big responsibility for women of our generation, of our age group who are playing at this level, to show (younger generations) what’s possible,” she said.
“Women supporting women is a really good place to start. I think we have more power than we think,” she added.
That’s not to say it wouldn’t also be great to see support from professional male hockey players, she said.
“I try to put myself in a professional male’s shoes and would hope that I would support it.
“It’s not their job to, but if you’re male and some way a feminist, then that’s awesome,” said Kromm.
Despite setbacks for Canadian women in hockey, Kromm, Reid and Jamieson remain optimistic about the future of the sport.
“I have no doubt that in 20 years, it’s going to be unreal and we’re not going to have 300 fans, we’re going to have thousands,” said Kromm.
“The only way for that to happen is for us to keep pushing.”