Since the early 1990s, women of all ages, as well as girls of all ages, have flocked to ice hockey in undreamed of numbers. Hockey’s face has been permanently changed by the growing formation of co-ed programs and female leagues. Women’s hockey is the up and coming sport among both intercollegiate women and Olympic hopefuls.
Women’s hockey cannot, by any means, be called new. According to the Canadian Hockey Association, the first recorded game of women’s hockey (1892) occurred in Barrie, Ontario, while ‘Total Hockey’, which is the NHL’s official encyclopedia, claims that the first game occurred in 1889, in Ottawa. By the century’s turn, there were women’s hockey teams springing up and playing all over Canada. During the 1920s and 1930s, there was a peak in women’s tournaments, teams, and leagues in just about every Canadian region; in addition, the trend was beginning to make inroads in the US.
Post-World War Two, the organized women’s game suffered a decline, and was considered a mere curiosity in the 1950s and 1960s. Although most girls who tried to become part of boys’ teams were still turned down, inch by inch, women’s hockey gained ice time. As this new generation of female players grew up they demanded opportunities at collegiate levels. Canadian intercollegiate women’s hockey started during the 1980s and was recognized by the NCAA in 1993.
In 1990, eight countries competed in the inaugural Women’s World Ice Hockey Championship followed by women’s hockey having its debut during the 1998 Olympic Games.
Currently the number of hockey leagues and teams for women and girls is experiencing all-time record highs, with commensurate increases in mixed gender teams. Girls’ and women’s hockey is one of the fastest growing games in the world, and does not show any signs of slowing down.
