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Title:       Equality on ice: women hockey players win a world profile.
Authors:     Jenish, D'Arcy
Citation:    Maclean's, April 2, 1990 v103 n14 p58(1)

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Subjects:    Hockey_Competitions
             Sports for women_Management
             Canada_Athletics

Locations:   Canada

Reference #: A8886825

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Full Text COPYRIGHT Maclean Hunter Ltd. (Canada) 1990

Equality on ice

The West German women managed just 12 shots on the Canadian net, and the
Swedes only three.  In return, the Canadians blasted 119 shots at their
weaker European opponents in two games and outscored them by 32 goals to
one.  Despite the mismatches and lopsided scores, organizers of the
first Women's World Ice Hockey Championship, held last week in Ottawa,
expressed pleasure about a new profile for a little-known brand of the
game.  The Sports Network (TSN) televised four games nationally and
about 85 journalists from six countries were accredited to cover the
tournament.  Organizers said that their next objective is to get women's
hockey accepted as part of the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer,
Norway.  Said Frances Rider, president of the Ontario Women's Hockey
Association: "We're very confident it will e in the Olympics.  It's long
overdue."

After the decisive victories over Sweden and West Germany, most
observers expected the Canadian women, who wore garish pink-and-white
uniforms bearing stylized maple leaves, to advance to the championship
game on March 25.  Among the eight nations taking part, the U.S. and
Finnish teams were the tournament's other powerhouses.  Although those
three teams were far superior to their rivals, organizers said that
holding a world championship should convince more women that hockey is
not just a men's game, and that it will give current players an
objective to strive for.  Said Rider: "Up until now, there has been no
elite international competition for women playing hockey."

Building women's hockey as an organized sport has been a slow process,
even in Canada.  The first national championship for women was held in
1982, and five years later the Ontario association hosted an
international tournament in Toronto for six countries.  As a result, the
International Ice Hockey Federation sanctioned a women's world
championship and, at a tournament last year, Sweden, Finland, Norway,
West Germany and Switzerland earned the right to attend the Ottawa
championship.  The Canadian and U.S. teams were selected on the basis of
training camps attended by the best players in both countries.  Japan
agreed to represent Asia after China decided not to send a team.

Across the country, 7,500 women play in leagues affiliated with the
Ottawa-based Canadian Amateur Hockey Association, said Harold Lewis, the
CAHA's director of regulations.  He estimated that another 18,000 play
for high-school, university or recreational teams unassociated with his
organization.  Ontario has 4,600 CAHA players and 327 teams.  Alberta
stands a distant second, with 940 players and 57 teams.

Still, women who want to play hockey face many obstacles.  They must
compete for ice time with male teams, figure skaters and broom-ball
leagues.  As well, women have trouble finding sponsors for tournaments
and championships.  Said Lewis: "In male hockey, corporate sponsors are
knocking on the door, but women's hockey is not very popular from a
marketing point of view."

In some of the other countries competing at the world championship,
women's hockey is far less developed than it is in Canada because of
lack of ice time and interest in the sport.  There are only about 600
female players in Sweden, all in a single league.  After Canada defeated
Japan 18-0, team captain Tamami Nishida explained that there are only 30
to 40 women's teams in Japan, including five in Tokyo.  Said Nishida:
"We knew we couldn't beat Canada.  They're not only fast and strong,
they know hockey."

In some cases, that speed, strength and knowledge of the game result
from years of playing and practising.  Canadian forward Vicky Sunohara,
a 20-year-old Scarborough, Ont., native, said that her father introduced
her to the game at the age of 2 and enrolled her in a boys league when
she was 5.  Defenceman Judy Diduck, a 24-year-old Edmonton resident,
said that she played road hockey with neighborhood boys for years,
including her brother, Gerald, now a defenceman for the New York
Islanders.

As female hockey players become more skilled, comparisons between the
abilities of men and women are inevitable.  The CAHA's Lewis, who has
been associated with the game for 50 years, said that many female
players are quick, agile skaters and good stickhandlers.  In most cases,
they cannot shoot the puck as hard as men because they have less
upper-body strength.  But, in last week's tournament, the Canadian women
showed that they can play a tough brand of hockey.  Their match against
Sweden included several thunderous collisions and 21 minor penalties for
such infractions as boarding, roughing and high-sticking.  Indeed,
whether the players are male or female, hockey is a game of speed,
agility and emotion.  With more exposure for the game, the world
gradually is getting in on the secret.

D'ARCY JENISH with SHARON DOYLE DRIEDGER in Toronto and BRUCE GARRIOCH
in Ottawa