Why the United States Should Pay More Attention to Women’s Hockey

When I first began getting serious about playing hockey, I noticed that there were not as many opportunities for girls playing hockey as there were for boys, especially where I lived, near Washington D.C., which is considered a non-traditional hockey market. Everywhere I looked, there were many opportunities for boys to go to development camps, hockey tournaments, and they even got more ice time and more games over the season! Not only that, but I noticed that there were very few opportunities for girls who didn’t want to play co-ed and who only wanted to play hockey with other girls.

I am one of these girls who decided not to do co-ed and instead chose to go on an all-girls team. In addition, I looked for all-girls hockey camps and development opportunities, and there was only one near my area, the Washington Pride girls’ hockey camp. However, when I did a broader search on this, I discovered that Les Canadiennes, the women’s’ team in Montreal, offered many more opportunities for girls playing hockey all over Canada, from Quebec to Newfoundland, and this initiative was taken by Caroline Ouellette, one of my favourite players. Not only that, but there were minor and junior leagues in Canada just for women, and they made it easier for hockey player to end up playing the CWHL, the elite women’s’ hockey league.

In the United States, on the other hand, opportunities for girls who want to develop their game are rare. The newly-founded NWHL is present only in the Northeast, and since most of the country is still getting accustomed to boys’ hockey, girls’ hockey is largely ignored. There are very few stars who were born in the States, of which are Hilary Knight and Julianne Chu; however, the Canadian stars are much more numerous. Although the American women’s Olympic hockey team often gets to the gold-medal game, most of the women playing on it developed their skills in Canada and still play in Canada.

There are many girls who live in the United States, including myself, who love hockey and would love a chance to develop their game and become better players without having to play co-ed. However, the fact that girls’ hockey is so scarce in the country does not help matters. I remember telling my mother about how awesome it would be if Caroline Ouellette held one of her girls’ hockey camps in the United States, but she said that it depends on how many girls would want to go, because it counts on cost vs. benefit. If girls’ hockey was displayed more south of the border, perhaps a young girl who lives in the States will one day grow up to become the next Marie-Philip Poulin or Cathy Chartrand.

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