More than 200 female ice hockey players have announced that they will boycott this year’s National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) season in protest against the current state of the sport.
Team USA stars Hilary Knight and Kendall Coyne Schofield were among those to release a joint statement saying that they will not play professional ice hockey in North America at all this year in an attempt to establish a single, economically viable league.
‘We cannot make a sustainable living playing in the current state of the professional game,’ the statement read. ‘Having no health insurance and making as low as two thousand dollars a season means players can't adequately train and prepare to play at the highest level.’
Adding: ‘This is the moment we’ve been waiting for – our moment to come together and say we deserve more. It’s time for a long-term viable professional league that will showcase the greatest product of women’s professional hockey in the world.’
We may represent different teams, leagues and countries but collectively we stand as one. #ForTheGame pic.twitter.com/O9MOOL8YOt
— Hilary Knight (@HilaryKnight) May 2, 2019
The players’ decision poses a significant threat to the NWHL, which will now be without a number of its star players in 2019/20, while its plans to expand into Toronto and Montreal next season could also potentially be hindered.
The move comes just over a month after the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) announced it would be ceasing operations after the 2018/19 season due to financial issues, leaving the five-team NWHL as the only professional women’s ice hockey league in North America.
An official statement from the league said that it ‘respects the wishes of all players to consider their options’, adding that it still plans to begin its with season in October, and will be offering increased salaries and a 50-50 revenue split from sponsorships and media rights deals.
According to ESPN, it is hoped that the boycott will stir the National Hockey League (NHL) into action. A number of female players have previously called for the men’s organisation to play a larger role in women’s ice hockey and support a single league with financial and infrastructural resources.
In response to the players’ statement, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly noted that the NWHL remains “an existing league with an existing organisation and business plan”, and said the NHL “do not intend to interfere with their business or their objectives.”
He added: “We will further explore the situation privately before taking any affirmative position on next steps. And we do not anticipate this being an agenda item for the board of governors at this early stage.”
More than 200 female ice hockey players have announced that they will boycott this year’s National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) season in protest against the current state of the sport.
Team USA stars Hilary Knight and Kendall Coyne Schofield were among those to release a joint statement saying that they will not play professional ice hockey in North America at all this year in an attempt to establish a single, economically viable league.
‘We cannot make a sustainable living playing in the current state of the professional game,’ the statement read. ‘Having no health insurance and making as low as two thousand dollars a season means players can't adequately train and prepare to play at the highest level.’
Adding: ‘This is the moment we’ve been waiting for – our moment to come together and say we deserve more. It’s time for a long-term viable professional league that will showcase the greatest product of women’s professional hockey in the world.’
The players’ decision poses a significant threat to the NWHL, which will now be without a number of its star players in 2019/20, while its plans to expand into Toronto and Montreal next season could also potentially be hindered.
The move comes just over a month after the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) announced it would be ceasing operations after the 2018/19 season due to financial issues, leaving the five-team NWHL as the only professional women’s ice hockey league in North America.
An official statement from the league said that it ‘respects the wishes of all players to consider their options’, adding that it still plans to begin its with season in October, and will be offering increased salaries and a 50-50 revenue split from sponsorships and media rights deals.
According to ESPN, it is hoped that the boycott will stir the National Hockey League (NHL) into action. A number of female players have previously called for the men’s organisation to play a larger role in women’s ice hockey and support a single league with financial and infrastructural resources.
In response to the players’ statement, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly noted that the NWHL remains “an existing league with an existing organisation and business plan”, and said the NHL “do not intend to interfere with their business or their objectives.”
He added: “We will further explore the situation privately before taking any affirmative position on next steps. And we do not anticipate this being an agenda item for the board of governors at this early stage.”
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