Growing up my sport, my passion, and my life was that of a ice hockey player. Early morning ice times, freezing cold rinks and maple frosted donuts as fuel was the routine. Greats like Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Chris Chelios danced through my dreams. My teammates were boys, my friends were boys and those that I adore for their skill, sportsmanship and competitive drive were male, but at that age I never thought much about it. At that age I did know the anatomical differences between genders, but to me they weren't an issue. There were males and there were females and so whats the big deal can't we all just play and get along? If my role role models where male, so what!
So what? I look back and realize that during my younger years I didn't fully comprehend that I the playing field wasn't equal. At the time there were no female sports on television, heck my town did not have girls hockey team. If there were females to be idolized in sport, I was not aware of them. Either way I just wanted to play the game I loved so much and continued to play despite sometimes hearing comments that insisted that a girl should not be trying to compete with the boys.
In my teenage years I flipped through my mothers running magazines to find new running shoes for off ice sessions. One day I landed on a page and that was a North Face advertisement and stared in awe. It was a full page ad that featured Kami Semick running downhill with her daughter on her back. Then a few weeks later I was taken back by a full page ad of Nikki Kimball barreling down technical terrain. Without thought or hesitation, I tore these pages out and scotched taped them on the walls of my room. At the time this wasn't even my sport, but these women spoke to me.
Kami and Nikki looked strong, fierce and confident. They seemed so conformable in their skin and with being female. They didn't have to tuck their hair away under their helmet in their sport, they could be themselves and be free. These two were really the first two females that I had seen in a magazine that weren't there to appear slender, sleek and sexy. Even though they were wearing running shoes and not hockey skates I had found new idols.
Sitting here today it is clear that progress has been made in equality between genders in sport, but from my perspective it is still not level ground. From the office building, to the athletic playing surface not all is comparable between the genders. Given the chance females can compete and they can entertain. The most recent example of this was the NHL All Star Skills Competition. Women's players were slated to demonstrate the events prior to the men competing in each event, but when of the players was injured prior to the event there was a slot. An idea was tweeted out that Kendall Coyne, a gold medalist for the U.S. women's national team compete in the fastest skater event. The day before the event it became official, she would compete.
Did she win the event? No, but she won over the crowd, she made history and she broke barriers. Best yet, she did it with a passion for her sport and with a big smile at the end. I commend Kendall for being so brave. She put herself out there, literally center ice knowing what a large weight she was carrying as she represented female athletes that work day after day to be treated, viewed and payed fairly. As a side note, Brianna Decker who demonstrated the passing competition, unofficially posted the fastest time for the event over the males that actually were competing for $25,000.
I wish that when I was growing up I had the opportunity to idolize the athleticism of hockey players like Coyne and Decker and ultra runners like Magda Boulet and Courtney Dauwalter (and that list goes on and on). There are so many great female role models out there and lets be sure they get recognized and have their opportunity to shine.
Just like in running, one step at a time and we will get there, but, let me be clear, there is no excuse that this is still happening. No matter what gender we each identity as we can advocate for equality in pay and opportunity so to close the gap that remains sooner rather than later.