اخبار العرب-كندا 24: الأحد 5 مايو 2024 07:13 صباحاً
As women's hockey continues to gain popularity, one Wellington County association says they can't grow the game because they're not getting their fair share of ice time.
The Grand River Mustangs is an all-girls hockey club based out of Centre Wellington. The association was established in 2005 and will also rent ice in neighbouring Mapleton Township.
Club's president Dan Gillie says the Mustangs have struggled to get equal access to ice time when compared to leagues for male players and he says it's because of the township's allocation policies.
"I think because girls hockey is new and in some communities, it's not established," he explained. "They haven't established a history of ice contracts that they can count on year after year."
Right now, Mustangs teams take ice time when they can within Wellington County but that's often during undesirable times.
"Essentially in many places, we get the unrentable ice — the ice that they can't get rid of," Gillie said.
"If it's early in the evening, say 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., that means the parent is leaving work early. They're picking their kid up from school or from the bus stop. They're rushing to the arena and that fits with some people but it only fits with a certain socioeconomic group," he said.
"Some people can leave work early, some people are shift workers but some people don't have that luxury."
A Grand River Mustangs player posing with a Toronto player from the PWHL. (Submitted: Dan Gillie )
Jodi Colwill is the mother of two Mustangs players. She also has a son who plays in the area. She says from her perspective, she has seen a major discrepancy between her son and daughters' ice schedules.
"My son is a U15 hockey player. He has played in multiple associations, not one time has had at a 6 a.m. ice time, and my girls have regular 6 a.m. ice," Colwill said.
"My youngest is eight and my other one is 11. Our girls are exhausted. We're expecting them to go to hockey and go to school all day, disrupt their sleep schedule and the boys don't ever have to do it."
Township has ice allocation policy
Centre Wellington owns and operates three ice pads including two at the Centre Wellington Sportsplex in Fergus and one at the Elora Community Centre.
The township has an ice allocation fact sheet on its website and it says the policy was developed "to ensure fair allocation of facility rental time."
"Ice allocation is fluid, which means that indoor facility time is continually allocated based on the needs of residents, community organizations and non-profit organizations," the fact sheet says.
It says the policy "clearly defines a formula used to allocate ice fairly."
"Once the total base allocation is calculated, all minor sport ice-user groups receive an equitable ratio of prime and non-prime ice. When these organizations receive their ice, it is at their discretion how the ice is allocated within their organization," the fact sheet says.
The township reviewed its ice allocation policy in 2023, which Colwill said she was initially excited to hear.
But then she became concerned when the policy included stipulations such as historic users and teams with 80 per cent of its players from Centre Wellington would get precedence.
She says that having a policy that says teams with more players who live in the township get more access to ice time punishes the Mustangs, which pulls players from other nearby communities where there aren't teams for female players.
"When you're developing or if you're going back and redoing an ice allocation policy, and you're talking about honouring historical pathways, how is girls hockey ever expected to grow and expand and be treated fairly?" Colwill questioned.
CBC News reached out to Centre Wellington about the concerns raised by the Mustangs, along with all members of council, but did not hear back.
Both Gillie and Colwill say that with the new Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) growing quickly in popularity, more young female players are going to want to get involved in the sport. They hope to continue speaking with the township in the off-season in the hopes that the association can get more equitable ice times starting this fall.
"I think the NHL is entering its 106th season and the PWHL is in its inaugural year. Girls hockey is 100 years behind," Colwill said. "If your township is going to create an ice allocation policy, please make sure it is up to the 2024 standard of equity."
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