Jessie Eldridge skates during Hockey Canada's National Women’s Program selection camp in Calgary on Aug. 4.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Tyra Edl has been playing hockey since she was six years old, first at the Initiation level and now in AAA. But, for the 17-year-old Spruce Grove, Alta., native and her teammates, there are frustratingly few places to take their love of the game next.
“They would all love to play for Team Canada and maybe one day play pro, but the way the women’s game is, you know, pro doesn’t necessarily pay all your bills. It’s not like the male game,” said Tyra’s mother, Cheryl Marcotte Edl.
These days, conversations about the male game are centred on Hockey Canada, the sport’s national governing body, which used a reserve fund to settle sexual assault allegations against male players quietly. After details of those cases came to public attention, sponsors pulled their funding, and earlier this week the organization’s chief executive and board of directors resigned.
Against the backdrop of that scandal, some hockey parents say it is finally time to dedicate more funding and resources to female players, who they say have spent too long in the shadow of their male counterparts.
“Having three daughters, it does frustrate me,” Ashley Carriere, an educational assistant who lives in Mississauga, said of the relative lack of resources and opportunities for women and girls in hockey. Her daughters – ages 14, 11 and four – all play.
Although she said conditions are improving, she would like to see more female mentors on the ice, including coaches and referees.
“That’s just something I wish we could have more of,” she said. Her middle daughter’s team, she noted, has an entirely male coaching staff.
More funding for the women’s game would encourage more young women to play, and would help build the sport’s profile, Ms. Edl said.
“Obviously, more funding would be great. It’s not a cheap sport. I think if they had more sponsorship from, you know, large corporations – like the boys’ game does, or like the professional NHL players get – that certainly would help show the game is just as exciting as the men’s game.”
Since 1990, the year of the first women’s world championships, participation in Canadian women’s hockey has grown dramatically. While there were only 8,146 registered female players in the 1990-91 season, that number had grown to 101,879 by 2019-20.
Fan interest in the sport is also exploding. About 2.7 million people tuned in to the CBC to watch Canada’s women’s team beat the U.S. team at this year’s Winter Olympics, making it Canadians’ most watched event of the Games.
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But while participation is high, and although there is clearly a fan base, there are very few avenues in Canada for women and girls to develop professionally in the sport, said Taylor McKee, an assistant professor of sports management at Brock University.
Elite female players in Canada likely hope to play for the NCAA, south of the border, but from there a player’s development opportunities are severely limited, Prof. McKee said.
“There’s nothing that’s going to take her, from a professional standpoint, from where she is when she’s going to graduate university to growing as an athlete, and that’s a huge problem,” he said.
He called for some of the responsibility for the women’s game to be given to an organization other than Hockey Canada.
“Creating a professional or semi-professional, or something outside of the control of Hockey Canada is such an important thing, not because we don’t want players to represent Canada but because it will take some of the burden off of Hockey Canada and also some of the control away from Hockey Canada, in terms of owning the women’s game from the highest level,” he said.
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Andrew Dillane, president of the Toronto Leaside Girls Hockey Association, said limits on professional development for women and girls are a problem in need of attention. He added that women have plenty to teach their male counterparts about what makes for a healthy sports culture.
“With all the stuff that’s been going on with Hockey Canada, girls’ hockey is the place that they should look to for change. The culture is amazing. The camaraderie amongst these girls is just absolutely fantastic,” he said.
“Let’s work on reform. And let’s work to make changes. The wheels are already in motion with the wholesale change that recently happened with leadership at Hockey Canada. Let’s focus on some of the positive stuff of the game. And girls’ hockey is really kind of that shining star.”