NWHL, NCAA women’s hockey players join Team USA boycott

The NWHL and NCAA are supporting the USA national women’s hockey team’s boycott.

Women athletes are rarely dealt a fair hand. They almost always have to make do with competing professionally despite having to work full-time jobs in the offseason while continuing to train. However, few sports have seen women get screwed over more than hockey. Women’s hockey is a growing market and the United States has one of the top teams in the world. However, their wages aren’t fair. This has led the national team, the reigning world champions, to boycott the IIHF World Championships. USA Hockey has started looking to the NWHL and the NCAA for replacement players. However, players have already come out refusing to play.

“What it basically came down to for us is”, NWHLPA director and player Anya Battaglino said, via ESPN. “How do we foster the continued growth and development of women’s hockey if we’re willing to play at (the) worlds as scabs?”

Wages for women athletes will never be fair. It’s ridiculous the men’s soccer team makes more than the women’s soccer team, especially when the latter is far more successful than the former. This is consistent across virtually all sports. Credit the NWHL and NCAA players for forcing USA Hockey’s hand. It’s now up to them to resolve the wages and make them more fair. They risk looking terrible to the IIHF, which could affect their participation in future tournaments.

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Considering the success of the women’s team, they absolutely deserve better wages. They constantly compete with Canada for championships. The same can’t be said for the men, who are coming off embarrassing performances in the World Cup of Hockey and the 2014 Winter Olympics. Neither side is giving him, so don’t expect a resolution any time soon.