Playing ice hockey is something that I have been doing since I could walk. I even used to play with the boys because there was no girl program. Now as a nineteen-year-old girl, I am still passionate about playing ice hockey and continuing my career through college. The reason I am writing about women’s ice hockey is because a lot of people think it is a huge joke. They say that women’s ice hockey is “boring” or “a guy’s sport” and a lot of times it is even stereotyped as a “dyke sport”.
Women’s ice hockey is growing all around the world and is becoming extremely popular everywhere. It is a well-liked sport in the Olympics just like men’s hockey. It may not be as fast paced or rough (because we cannot check in women’s ice hockey) as men’s hockey, but it is definitely just as important.
What makes it such a man sport anyways? Is it because it makes people sweat and smell? Just because I play women’s ice hockey and it makes me stronger than some other girls does not mean that I am a dyke or manly. And just because it is slower paced because we may not be as strong and fast as the men’s does not make it more boring than men’s hockey.
At my games we always have an audience. People come to watch us play women’s ice hockey. My parents have always said that even though my games are a little slower than my brother’s, they are just as entertaining. They say that when the games are close it is just as exhilarating to watch as the boy’s games.
Playing ice hockey is something that is very important to me and has been in my life since I was a little girl. Women’s ice hockey is a legitimate sport and is just as fashionable and popular as men’s hockey. It is just as hard to play women’s ice hockey in college because just as many girl’s want to play as guy’s. Women’s ice hockey is growing all over the country and the world and will keep getting bigger.
I agree with Heather's point that ice hockey should be admired and appreciated rather than be taken as a joke. One of my good friends plays women's hockey and I am very impressed by her skills and talent. Many people downplay women's sports and ice hockey is definitley a rough sport. The fact that women play and participate in this sport is awesome. I do not think it's boring at all and I can tell that is becomin more and more popular just as Heather said. This blog shows alot of pride and values the importance of women's ice hockey in a world of male- dominated sports.
ReplyDeleteCarina Melanson
To Heather: from Andrew Ricketts,
ReplyDeleteI'd honestly rather get to go watch a women's ice hockey game compared to curling or half the other winter sports at the olympics. Hockey is intense, no matter what the contact level is. I personally know where you stand with this because i played hockey at a younger age and even though i don't today, the first level i played in when i played in-house hockey was non-checking. It makes a slight difference when your not allowed to check, but it doesn't slow down the pace of the game, hockey can go even faster actually when you don't have a dog pile at the boards that takes 30 seconds to break up.
I also think it's really cool that you played with the guys when you were younger due to program shortages. I have a cousin who's currently being scouted by good athletic schools for cross country, track, and softball. But she played baseball with boys all the way up through the eighth grade league because she was good enough and she just wanted to play baseball. Any girl can play whatever sport she wants on almost any level. So I agree that sports really are not a Man's sport one way or the other.
To Heater from Conor:
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with what you're saying. All women do work as hard and try as hard as men do in their respected sports. I can somewhat relate because I play volleyball where guys aren't paid attention to as much as girls. I understand the feeling where you have a great passion and love for the sport you play and yet it seems like no one cares. It's hard to find high schools or even colleges for that matter that have a men's volleyball program. I know it may not be the same but it's close.
The bottom line is that most people in out country rather see the crap beaten out of one another in men's football, ice hockey, ultimate fighting, etc. because apparently it's a lot more fun to watch. Both genders work just as hard and have just as big of passion for the sport but it's in our genetics to watch big guys beat up on one another.