Hitting is an integral part of men’s hockey. The strategy is simple: if you want to beat your opponent, you have to get in their way and throw a few punches. The problem is that in women’s hockey, hitting is not only discouraged but sometimes even banned! Why? Let’s take a closer look.
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The Evolution Of Ladies’ Hockey
While there are some notable exceptions, such as Minnesota’s Gopher Hockey Club and the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, most women’s hockey is played in suburban areas by school-aged children. These kids learn to play the game from watching male players and role models on TV and in person. Naturally, when they grow up, they believe that they should behave the same way as their male counterparts.
However, just because something is ‘natural’ doesn’t mean that it’s automatic. Over the past few years, a number of teams have successfully integrated women’s hockey into their program, teaching the sport to grown women and inspiring the next generation of female players. Here are a few such stories.
North Carolina Vs Harvard
North Carolina and Harvard are considered to be powerhouses in women’s hockey, with the Tar Heels regularly challenging for national titles. The two teams have met on the ice more than a few times, and it’s not uncommon for fans to get into fights just to get a glimpse of action. In 2018, North Carolina entered the game as the heavy favorite, having won the previous two games by a combined score of 12-3. The challenge for Harvard this year was to play spoiler and prevent the Lady Tar Heels from reaching perfection.
For the first game, the players hit like fury, exchanging punches, elbowing and even a couple of headshots. The action was so intense that it even drew a few of the thousands of spectators to their feet, engaging in the fights alongside the players. Things remained intense throughout the game, with both teams trading punches and checking one another constantly. In the end, North Carolina scored just once, hitting the crossbar on a backdoor tap-in. Harvard took the victory easily, 6-2.
Ladies’ Hockey Is A Fast-Paced Game
Though the games are often exciting to watch, the reality is that women’s hockey is a very physical sport. This is partially because the players are larger than those involved in traditional sports, and also because there are a lot more of them. In the past, players would often times get in fights to distract their opponents while they gathered their bearings, but now they’re expected to be able to take a hit and keep going. In fact, the game is sometimes faster than the eye can follow, with many players showing impressive skills by avoiding contact and still being able to quickly change direction to throw their opponent off-guard. In other instances, fights have even broken out among the spectators, causing a distraction during critical moments of the game.
No Room For Racism In Hockey
While both men’s and women’s hockey have had their share of controversies and discrimination, overall hockey has maintained a fairly level playing field. One of the primary reasons behind this is that coaches, managers and officials are all treated the same, regardless of gender. In the early days of hockey, some players believed that women were physically incapable of competing at a high level and should therefore be excluded from the sport. Despite this belief, some women have managed to climb the ladder and earn their spot on the ice through sheer determination and hard work.
Hitting Is A Manly Art
From a very early age, boys are raised being conditioned to learn how to fight. Even when they’re not physically fighting each other, kids are often pitted against other kids in games of ‘chicken’ where they throw punches, elbows and headshots, trying to outwit and outlast their opponent. Naturally, as they get older, this spills over into their adult lives, and they tend to continue dealing out violence in a non-physical way, through insults, put-downs and dismissive behavior.
This is also why men dominate women when it comes to paychecks. While there are a number of female athletes who are capable of dealing out some vicious punches, it is generally accepted that men are physically better adapted to the game. In 2014, the average salary for a woman hockey player was about 71% that of a man’s, and the gap has remained fairly constant over the years. It is unlikely that hitting will ever be fully banned in women’s hockey, but perhaps the frequency with which it happens can be reduced. Perhaps it is time for the sport to evolve and accept that some people are just better suited to play certain roles, like quarterbacking or checking.