Finding my place in the beer leagues
My summer hockey experience
Amanda Laing, Staff
I used to be a fish out of water. Then for a while I was just one of the guys. Now I find myself struggling to fit in. I play summer hockey in the Adult Safe Hockey League (ASHL) here in Winnipeg. This would not be anything to write about were it not for the fact that I play in the men’s league — and I am not a man.
The root of my troubles began in rural Manitoba at 6 a.m. as my younger brother, who was about five or six years old at the time, was getting ready to go play hockey. It was house league. Everyone got to go out on the ice in two-minute shifts, try really hard, fall down a lot, get really tired and have a lot of fun. I got to watch. There were no girls playing in house league.
As I got old enough to voice my concerns to my parents, they saw through my persistence that I was actually serious about playing hockey. After a brief stint with ringette, a girls’ hockey team was finally formed in my community and my parents agreed to let me play. There was no shortage of comments from my father, of course: “Hockey is a man’s game; girls don’t play hockey.”
People say that hockey is in your blood. Either you were born to play or you weren’t. I have hockey in my blood. There is nothing more natural to me than putting on my equipment and stepping onto the ice with a stick in my hands. The smell of a hockey rink, the sight of a fresh sheet of ice waiting for me, the sound of my blades on the ice, the feel of the puck on my stick — nothing could make me more content. I know that for those moments on the ice I am truly myself. There is only one small problem. I play in the men’s league — and I am not a man.
In my fish out of water stage, I had come home for the summer from playing university hockey in Montreal. I was looking for a way to improve my game and stay in shape, so I thought I’d play in the women’s league. It was very clear from the first game that taking the puck away from middle-aged women who were just learning to skate was not going to improve my game.
I played in two men’s leagues that summer and I got a lot of attention. The guys were astonished that I could skate and a little annoyed and sheepish when I got the puck from them or scored a goal. It was not long, however, before I had earned their respect and become just another one of the guys.
A few years have passed and I am no longer a university hockey player. I am also no longer just one of the guys. Thanks to an increase in popularity of women’s hockey and the rapid development of female hockey players of all ages, my place in the beer leagues of summer hockey has been altered. The women’s leagues are still too weak for players who want to improve their skills.
Not all of the men, however, have taken kindly to the rapid influx of women into their beloved pastime. When it was just one or two of us, we were considered different and maybe a little bit unnatural. Now the basement leagues of the ASHL are filled with coed teams, and many of the men involved do not know how to respond.
I think I speak for more than just myself when I say that I am out there for the love of hockey and a little bit of fun and social interaction. I expect to be treated like any other player and I don’t expect anyone to let up on me because I am a “girl.” If I get pushed around I will stick up for myself, but I don’t think I have anything to prove other than that I belong on the ice.
A lot of guys complain that they can’t play “full out” because we are there. Then there are those who try to beat the crap out of us so that we won’t play anymore. The referees don’t know what to do when we knock a guy down, and when my female friend was knocked unconscious after being “body checked” by a man (in a non-contact hockey league) there was no penalty given out.
I feel a bit sorry for these guys that think they are too talented to have to play with us “lowly” women. I guess they narrowly missed their shot at the big leagues and their next option was the basement leagues of the ASHL summer program in Winnipeg. Don’t get me wrong — not every guy has a problem. I play on an evenly split team with a group of my friends, my brother and some of his friends from back home. For the most part, the males on our team are respectful both on and off the ice. We compete hard and have fun together. It’s just such a shame that some members of the “old boys club” don’t see it that way. I am a hockey player. I just want to play hockey.
