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Women are gaining more and more prominence in the world of ice hockey. In what used to be a completely male dominated sport, women are carving a path for themselves through the ice.
The first ever recorded event of a women’s ice hockey game is said to have occurred in 1892 in Barrie, Ontario. The uniforms were of course in line with women swear of the day and incorporated a long woolen skirt, hats, turtlenecks, and gloves. These days the women’s uniform is the same as the men’s ice hockey uniform.
The early days of women’s ice hockey held Canada strongly in its focus. In the early decades of the 20th century nearly every region across Canada had a women’s ice hockey team. This may have been due to many of the men involved in ice hockey being away at war. Much like the baseball leagues, women had to step up into the roles of professional ice hockey players to keep fans interested in the sport.
The women’s league went into decline post-war and the game was once again considered to be “boys only”. In the early 80s however resurgence began again with the NCAA officially recognizing intercollegiate forms of the game in 1993. Worldwide recognition also came in 1990 with the first Women’s World Ice Hockey Championship contested between 8 countries.
Today women’s ice hockey enjoys its highest level of popularity to date with numerous teams and leagues, some professionals have even played on men’s teams. Some ice hockey teams have started playing with mixed genders, although this appears to only be common amongst youth ice hockey teams.
