Will Rene Fasel save women’s ice hockey?
Once upon a time, there was a women’s Olympic sport called softball. If there was such a thing as royalty in the world of softball, it was the United States National Softball Team. When softball made its debut at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, the American team lost but one game in round robin play to the Australian team. Ultimately, the Americans took home the gold. The Americans continued to dominate, taking the gold in the next two Olympics in 2000 and 2004. In the 2004 games in Athens, the American team not only won the coveted gold medal, but they outscored their opponents 51-1 and they broke 11 world records. Even more impressive, is that the 2004 team didn’t allow a run until the 6th inning of the final game. All that success though, was ultimately the downfall of women’s Olympic softball. In 2005, the IOC announced that the 2008 Olympic Games would be the last for softball. Why? Because softball cannot be profitable when only one team dominates. The rest of the world will tune out if the feeling is “Why watch? The (enter expletive here) Americans will simply win again.” So in the 2008 Games when softball was put to rest, it was not the American team that won.
What does this have to do with women’s ice hockey? Easy. It is the next sport that could easily go the way of softball. As hockey fans, we know that women’s ice hockey is not as popular as their male counterpart. We also know, that in general the two teams that will face off in the gold medal game will be the ones assembled by USA Hockey and Hockey Canada. In the men’s game, USA Hockey and Hockey Canada hope and plan to be in the gold medal game, but there is always a possibility that one or two of their European opponents will be there instead. With the 2014 Games being hosted in Russia, you can bet on the Russians, especially Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin plan on being in that gold medal game. The unknown of how the competition shakes out is part international men’s ice hockey’s appeal. That question does not exist in the women’s game. And let’s face it, of women’s ice sports, most people would rather watch figure skating than hockey. And the IOC knows this. Figure skating generates far more money than women’s ice hockey. Further proof is look at the TV times for the two sports. Figure skating is shown in the coveted prime time sports, while women’s ice hockey is relegated to early morning or late, late night slots.
Click on “Read More” to see the rest of the article…
In order to improve the women’s game, the competition for Team USA and Team Canada must be there. I am happy to say that the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has taken the first (and very important) step in improving the women’s game. This summer, the IIHF hosted the Women’s High Performance Camp in Bratislava, Slovakia. This camp has brought together players and coaches from 16 nations. The motto of the IIHF for improving the women’s game is “Building the G.A.M.E., the critical themes of this development camp being Globally, Athletes First, Mentorship, and Education. To build Globally, the IIHF is starting with this group of countries who wish to improve the state of the game in their country. I really hope there is a concerted effort to expand the game in China and Japan. If there were two countries that would latch on to the game if given half a chance, it would be those two.
The second step is putting the Athlete First. This is done through practice, training, and nutrition. In the countries of the United States, Canada, Finland, and Sweden, the women’s national teams have definitely taken a stand of producing the best athletes that they can. In those four countries, they have the all-important access to the ice. If you watch part three of the videos that the IIHF has posted, a young woman from Norway is interviewed. In Norway, the women get access to the ice a mere two days a week, the other five going to the men. How can one expect the women’s game to improve if they cannot practice? The goal of putting these women athletes first, is to put the onus on the various countries to put their women’s players first, and to treat them as equals. It won’t be easy, but of course they cannot improve if they’re not given equal access. Of course training is not only on the ice. They are also given the tools to improve themselves off-ice through weight/cardio training and the all-important nutrition.
Mentorship is the third critical part of the IIHF’s goal. The mentors come both in the form of players and coaches from the top four teams. And even more importantly, the IIHF is not putting the entire focus on the women we would see in the Olympics. They are also working the the U-18 teams, in an effort for more of a grass-roots effort. In the mentorship program, coaches and players from the four top teams will be working with the national teams of China, France, Russia, Kazakhstan, Norway, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Switzerland.. What I think is even better, is that it is a mixed nationality mentor team going into these countries. For example, the group working with the Czech Republic has all four countries represented. The IIHF was smart in asking Canada’s Haley Wickenheiser to be the coordinator for the athlete mentors. For all intents and purposes, Wickenheiser is the face of women’s ice hockey around the world. Perhaps someday that face will be of a player from Kazakhstan.
The final part of the equation is that of Education. Basically, it is a culmination of the first three parts. It means getting those mentors and the athletes together and helping them to become their best advocates with the home federations. When the players leave Bratislava, they are going to have to go home and try and improve further, and more importantly change the minds of their national federation and the fans. They cannot do that without everything they have learned this summer.
This camp is definitely a step in the right direction. And as we all know, change often comes through baby steps. However, change can also come through drastic measures. I feel that a combination of small steps and drastic measures are needed. The IIHF has give us the baby steps. Let me propose the bold steps. My idea will build off of what the IIHF has started, however timing will have to delay my idea. My suggestion is that after the 2014 Games, that the IIHF spend the next three years in intensive, international training. It will require sacrifice on the part of all the international teams participating, including suspension of the Women’s IIHF World Championships for the first two years.
During the first year after the 2014 Olympics, I propose that the IIHF create mixed nationality teams. This means that every team has players from every country participating. Much of this year will focus simply on training and skill development, with games coming later in the international season. For sake of convenience (meaning travel), the nations of Europe would be the host. Coaches would also be a mixed bag of nationalities, but there would always be a coach from one of the top four nations on the coaching staff (in effort to extend the IIHF’s theme of mentorship).
In second year of the development, the IIHF would continue with the mixed nationality teams, however competition would increase. The teams would continue with training, however the game schedule would be more like a typical international schedule. When the teams are not competing, the teams would work with the U-18 teams and youth teams of the host country that mixed team is in. The teams would ultimately compete in a World Championship style competition. In this year, the true focus would be on competition, whereas the first year was on development.
In the third and final year before the next Olympics, the players and coaches would go back to their individual nations. They would go back to their normal competition schedule. They would once again compete as they normally would for the World Championship. Also, they would have time to prepare for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Hopefully the combination of the Women’s High Performance Camp and this intense international training would greatly improve the quality of the women’s game. And I would also suggest that the High Performance Camp would be something that the IIHF would be willing to host year after year.
As I mentioned earlier, my suggestion does require a lot of sacrifice. For the players, most of them would be living away from their families for a long time. Even harder, is that most of them will be in a country where they do not speak the native language. On a financial level, they won’t be home to work when they’re not playing hockey. With the state of the world’s global economy, we hope to have all adults in our various households working. Some families will not be able to be without an income. For the players and coaches from the United States, Canada, Finland, and Sweden, they may feel that their training and development would be hindered playing with players of lower ability levels. Even if that would happen, they must realize that they would still be miles ahead of their competition. The ultimate goal is to even the playing field. That cannot be achieved without shared sacrifice.
If the IIHF can find success with their goals, one can hope that there would be further growth outside of North America and Europe. As witnessed by the IIHF’s High Performance Camp and Building the G.A.M.E. initiative, they are working with China and Japan. Other Asian nations that might need to be considered are South Korea and Taiwan. These are two countries that have the financial resources to support women’s ice hockey. North Korea might also be a consideration for achieving a truly global game. While there is great wealth in Middle Eastern nations like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, I don’t know if culturally the people of those nations are ready to see their women play in a physical sport like hockey and play a sport while wearing “pants.”
Naturally, I don’t see the IIHF going for my more aggressive and bold idea. First, they would lose much needed revenue by suspending World Championship play for two seasons. However, I hope that they would realize that losing a couple of seasons of play now would improve their bottom line in the long run, by preventing the IOC from eliminating women’s ice hockey from the Olympics. Secondly, I don’t know if they could get the member nations to agree. Let’s face it. Nationalism is a powerful force, and politics could easily get in the way. And thirdly, I don’t know if the players themselves could afford to do it either, especially from a financial point. Unlike their male counterparts, women generally cannot earn a living playing hockey. With immigration laws as they are, it would be near impossible for the players to work while on these mixed national teams, especially those who are from non-European Union countries.
I never said it would be easy to improve the women’s game. However, bold ideas are rarely easy. Besides, it’s better to try than to go the way of softball.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
