As women's hockey continues to grow in popularity, one Wellington County association says it is unable to grow the game because it doesn't get the playing time it deserves.
The Grand River Mustangs are an all-female hockey club based at the Wellington Center. The association, which he founded in 2005, also plans to rent ice in neighboring Mapleton Township.
Club president Dan Gilley said the Mustangs have struggled to enjoy equal ice time compared to men's leagues and blamed the town's allocation policy for that.
“I think it’s because women’s hockey is new and not established in some communities,” he explained. “They haven't established a history of reliable ice contracts year after year.”
Currently, the Mustangs are getting as much ice time as possible within Wellington County, often at undesirable times.
“Basically in a lot of places, we're getting ice that we can't rent, ice that they can't remove,” Gilley said.
“If it's early in the evening, say 4:30pm to 5:30pm, that means parents are finishing work early. Picking up their kids from school or the bus stop, rushing to the arena. And that's true for some people, but only for certain socio-economic groups,” he said.
“Some people can leave work early, some work shifts, but others don't have that luxury.”
Jody Colwill is the mother of two Mustang players. She also has a son who plays in the area. From her perspective, she says she's noticed a big difference in her son's and her daughters' ice schedules.
“My son is an U15 hockey player. He plays in multiple associations but has never played in the 6 a.m. ice time. And my daughters regularly play in the 6 a.m. of ice time,” Colwill said.
“My youngest is 8 and my other is 11. My daughters are exhausted. We expect them to go to hockey or go to school all day and disrupt their sleep schedules. But boys don't have to do that.”
The township has an ice quota policy.
Center Wellington owns and operates three ice pads, including two at the Center Wellington Sportsplex in Fergus and one at the Elora Community Center.
The town has a fact sheet on its website about ice allocation, saying the policy was developed “to ensure fair allocation of facility rental hours.”
“Ice allocation is fluid, meaning indoor facility hours will be allocated on an ongoing basis based on the needs of residents, community organizations, and nonprofit organizations,” the fact sheet states.
The policy “clearly defines a formula for the fair allocation of ice.”
“Once the total base allocation is calculated, all minor sports ice user groups receive a fair proportion of prime and non-prime ice. When these organizations receive ice, they receive ice within their organization. How they allocate is at their discretion,” the fact sheet says.
The town is reviewing its ice allocation policy in 2023, and Colwill said she was initially excited to hear about it.
However, he later became concerned when he learned that the policy included provisions such as giving priority to teams with 80% of players from historic players and Center Wellington alumni.
She said the policy, where teams with more players who live in town have more access to ice time, would penalize the Mustangs for pulling players away from other nearby communities that don't have women's teams. talk.
“When you're developing, when you're going back and redoing ice distribution policies, and when you're talking about respecting the historical path, how can women's hockey grow and expand and be treated fairly? “Is that what you're expecting?” Colwill asked.
CBC News reached out to the Wellington Center about the concerns raised by the Mustangs and all councillors, but did not receive a response.
Both Gilley and Colwill say the rapidly growing popularity of the new Women's Professional Hockey League (PWHL) will lead to more young female players wanting to join the sport. They hope to continue discussions with the town throughout the offseason in hopes of getting the association more equitable ice time starting this fall.
“I think the NHL is in its 106th season and the PWHL is in its first year. Women's hockey is 100 years behind,” Colwill said. “If your town develops an ice allocation policy, make sure it meets the 2024 equity standards.”
