The University of New Brunswick women’s varsity hockey team is set to play its first game Saturday after being resurrected following a lengthy human rights battle.
UNB downgraded its women’s varsity team to a sports club in 2008 citing funding issues, but former player Sylvia Dooley alleged the decision amounted to discrimination on the basis of sex.
In 2016, the province’s Labour and Employment Board agreed and ordered the school to reverse its decision.
Dooley says Saturday’s home game in Fredericton against Mount Allison University will provide “a pretty significant sense of closure.”
The former UNB hockey player, now based in Ottawa, will be in the stands when the Varsity Reds hit the ice for the first regular season game in a decade.
She says she met head coach Sarah Hilworth on Thursday and that the team appeared excited to start the season.