'We haven't made as much progress as people think': Problems persist for N.S. women’s hockey
Morgan Shusterman and Leila Ludyka are members of the Cape Breton University women's hockey team who have been playing the game all their lives.
They're no strangers to some of the hurdles girls face to achieve equality at the rink.
"A lot of the boy’s teams have precedent over the ice times,” Shusterman said. “They have their set times every week, which is what we're craving."
"And it's really hard when you have to bounce back and forth between different rinks and different areas to get the ice time you deserve,” Ludyka said.
This week, Hockey Canada released its latest discussion paper on the state of women's hockey, aiming to identify some of the challenges it faces to have 170,000 women and girls playing the game by 2030.
Currently, they are more than 60,000 players short of that goal.
"I think the end goal, really, is a big one,” said Hockey Canada’s Gillian Apps. “It's, 'How do we fix girls and women's hockey in Canada right now?'"
Apps, who won three Olympic gold medals with Team Canada, said the discussion paper identified six key barriers, which include inequalities in ice time, funding, and resource allocation.
Another big issue is retention.
Hockey Canada says on average, women and girls play the game for nearly two-and-a-half years less than their male counterparts.
"We're seeing that people are sort of self-selecting out earlier, and trying to figure out why that is,” Apps said.
Christina Lamey, head of the Cape Breton Blizzard Female Hockey Association, said while they run one of the most successful girl’s programs in the country, they typically have to get a lot of their ice time at the Membertou Sport and Wellness Centre because they can’t find enough at municipally-owned rinks.
"A lot of the problems that have persisted for the women’s game still exist,” said Blizzard president Christina Lamey. “We haven't made as much progress as people think we have."
The strides made to grow the women's game on Cape Breton show in the Blizzard’s retention numbers.
"Our retention rates are spectacular,” Lamey said. “We have over 90 per cent retention out of Under-7 and Under-9 (divisions). Those numbers are more than double the national average for mostly mixed hockey."
Hockey Canada will be seeking public consultation and feedback from athletes, coaches, volunteers and fans.
"I very much believe that what we did here can be done anywhere in the country,” Lamey said of the Blizzard’s success. “The only thing standing in their way is good access to good ice time, and if you look at an arena in your neighbourhood or your community that has no girl’s hockey in it, they're part of the problem."
Lamey noted the Blizzard’s new rink – and the first all-female arena east of Montreal – is expected to open in January at the former Canada Games Complex at Cape Breton University.
She said the newly-renovated rink will host the largest girl’s hockey tournament Cape Breton has ever seen in April.
For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Prosecutor recommends parole for Menendez brothers in 1989 murder of parents
A Los Angeles prosecutor said on Thursday he would ask a judge to release Erik and Lyle Menendez on parole after nearly 35 years in prison for the shotgun murder of their parents, as new evidence emerged indicating they were sexually abused by their father for years.
'The mom is shattered': Body of employee who died at Halifax Walmart was found by her mother
The Maritime Sikh Society says the body of a young employee who died at a Walmart in Halifax last weekend was found by her mother.
'Never said I was going to close the door on politics forever': Christy Clark on interest in federal leadership run
As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faces growing pressure from within his own caucus to step aside, former B.C. premier Christy Clark says she is open to returning to politics.
Trudeau announces massive drop in immigration targets as Liberals make major pivot
The federal government is slashing immigration targets to levels that will flatten population growth as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau admits the government did not get the balance right after the COVID-19 pandemic.
2 suspects arrested after 4 teens stabbed outside Montreal high school
Montreal police say four teenagers suffered stab wounds after an altercation near John F. Kennedy High School in the city's Villeray—Saint-Michel—Parc-Extension borough on Thursday.
'Horrific': Four people dead after Tesla slams into pillar and catches fire on Lake Shore Boulevard in Toronto
Four people are dead and another is in hospital after a Tesla driving through downtown Toronto at a high rate of speed crashed into a guardrail and struck a concrete pillar on Lake Shore Boulevard.
More straight couples are calling each other partner. Here's why
Within a year of dating, 31-year-old Siara Rouzer crossed a major relationship milestone. The guy she was seeing was no longer a boyfriend but her partner.
Vince McMahon, embattled former CEO of WWE, sued for allegedly enabling sexual abuse
A new lawsuit alleges Vince McMahon knowingly enabled the sexual exploitation of children by a WWE employee in the 1980s.
B.C. election recounts won't start until Sunday afternoon
Voting officials say recounts in two ridings that could determine the outcome of British Columbia's election won't start until Sunday afternoon — and it won't be until Monday before the makeup of the legislature is finalized.