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North American women's ice hockey players struggle for a league of their own: U of T expert

Calgary Inferno鈥檚 Zoe Hickel (left) and Tori Hickel celebrate winning the 2019 Canadian Women鈥檚 Hockey League Clarkson Cup after beating Les Canadiennes de Montreal (photo by Chris Young)

Women鈥檚 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鈥檚 ice hockey in North America.

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

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鈥檚 league and suggest some alternative ways of developing a successful women鈥檚 hockey league.

Player solidarity

At the end of March 2019, a week after (the women鈥檚 equivalent of the Stanley Cup), the CWHL announced that it was closing down because it was 鈥渆conomically unsustainable.鈥 That announcement was overshadowed by .

Les Canadiennes de Montreal鈥檚 goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer makes a save during the 2019 Clarkson Cup game (photo by Chris Young)

The players鈥 statement 鈥 fittingly released on May 1st 鈥 declared that 鈥渨e will not play in ANY professional leagues in North America this season until we get the resources that professional hockey demands and deserves.鈥

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: 鈥淲e 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鈥檛 adequately train and prepare to play at the highest level.鈥

Seeking stable alternatives

In the CWHL, salaries ranged from . In the NWHL salaries in the first season of operation (2015-16) ranged from .

Players who also play for their national teams in North America and Europe are often relatively well-funded, but the majority of professional players have careers outside hockey. Some also have children. Some older players realize that the job action could mean they have of high-level hockey.

As with other forms of labour action, those who have withdrawn their labour acknowledge that any gains that are made will be most likely to benefit the next generations of players. The protesting players have recently , the Professional Women鈥檚 Hockey Players鈥 Association (PWHPA).

It seems that the players鈥 actions to improve their working conditions, as well as the overall image of women鈥檚 hockey, may follow the lead of their peers in the WNBA and European professional soccer leagues. That is, they advocate affiliating with men鈥檚 professional leagues and teams, in this case the NHL and select teams in that league.

Part of my work as Director of the involves monitoring the rights and working (playing) conditions for athletes in professional and high performance sport.

What if players controlled the game?

Prompted by the corruption and mismanagement evident in many national and international sports organizations and by the disturbing 鈥渙wnership鈥 model of many professional team sport leagues 鈥搘here players are bought and sold, drafted, traded and auctioned 鈥 I have been asking the question: 鈥?鈥

Low pay and short careers for the majority of the world鈥檚 professional athletes are accompanied by and that would be a topic of major concern in any other industry or institution.

In the authoritarian conditions under which most sports are played at the highest level, athletes have very little opportunity to determine the form, the circumstances and the meaning of their participation. Partnering with the NHL to form a women鈥檚 professional hockey league is likely a much better alternative than the status quo, but the of NHL teams are not likely to include players in their decision-making.

The NHL has declared in partnering with a women鈥檚 hockey league, despite the fact that such a move has been a . Some women鈥檚 soccer teams in Italy and Spain are now . NHL team owners may be waiting until they can partner with women鈥檚 teams on conditions most favourable to themselves.

Given the solidarity demonstrated by so many of the top women players, perhaps they would be ready to consider some alternatives 鈥 player ownership, community ownership or some combination of these in order to form a league of their own.

Before the NFL Players鈥 Association (NFLPA) went on strike in 1982, the union produced a pamphlet titled 鈥淲e Are the Game鈥, which stated that the NFLPA wouldn鈥檛 only run exhibitions games, it 鈥.鈥 Two games were played, but the experiment failed under enormous legal resistance from team, media and stadium owners. However, the players鈥 recognition that remains a resource of hope.

Ownership

The best current example of player ownership is in roller derby, the international Women鈥檚 Flat Track Derby Association (), where teams and leagues are owned by the players, for the players. A hybrid example is the , where teams are co-owned by players, fans and investors. to establishing their own league, and working toward community ownership.

Game 3 of the 2019 CWHL playoffs, with the Toronto Furies at Calgary Inferno.

is the . Examples can be found in soccer, with teams and leagues in at least 31 countries, and also in American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, baseball, basketball, ice hockey and rugby leagues.

The PWHPA might consider one of these alternatives if they do not 鈥溾 from the . Community tax bases have provided major support to men鈥檚 professional sports, , in the form of . Player- and/or community-owned women鈥檚 teams would also have an equity-based right to call on community resources 鈥 For The Game.The Conversation

 is a professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education at the .

This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

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