While it’s exhausting to say and much more exhausting to feel, U.S. women’s hockey captain Kendall Coyne Schofield is adamant that “women’s hockey deserves better.”
This year’s IIHF Women’s World Championship in Nova Scotia has been postponed. Players worldwide were stunned, and hockey Canada and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) have agreed to look for alternate dates for the competition later this summer.
Coyne Schofield told ESPN on Friday that the Stanley Cup was “ours.” “Can you picture arriving at the Stanley Cup Finals, only to find out before boarding the plane that the game has been postponed and that no one knows when or if it will ever be played again? I’m speechless. This is something I don’t want to see in the eyes of any young female. Sometimes it isn’t easy, but we do it because we don’t want anyone else to go through what we are going through. It’s incredibly exhausting. Knowing that things may have been different if decisions had been made sooner is painful.”
The Nova Scotia government called for its cancellation only one day before the event’s scheduled arrival date. The tournament had strong COVID-19 regulations in place, including an eight-day quarantine.
Players from the United States and Canada were informed of the development while on the ice at their respective teams’ pre-tournament camps.
A tear-stained Coyne Schofield stated, “You know how much work everyone put into this moment when you see tears flowing down your teammates’ eyes, your coaches’ eyes, your general managers’ eyes. “It was a successful journey to that point; there were no positive outcomes. We did what we were supposed to; we didn’t let anyone down.”
A rescheduled event might be held in the United States. Still, because Hockey Canada has been officially chosen as the host, organizers will first attempt to find a solution in Canada.
Canada’s Renata Fast told ESPN that she and her teammates had been preparing for this moment for two years. “That was the last thing we expected to happen, so we were surprised. Before we arrived in Nova Scotia, we had all completed our seven-day isolation period. After that, we were put to the test daily. The day before more teams were scheduled to arrive, it was like, “Why?” We were left with a sense of hatred and disappointment and no explanations.”
There are no national team players from Canada or the United States in the NWHL since they are members of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association, which is campaigning for a North American professional league that can pay players a livable salary. This year’s World Championship is “basically all we got,” Canadian forward Sarah Nurse said in an interview.
“Companies, investors, and partners question how they can invest in female sports if cancellations like this keep happening: How are we recouping our costs?'” According to what the nurse told ESPN, “Because of the postponement of the world championships, I was not compensated for my sponsorship agreement last year. They interpreted it as a breach of contract on my part. It’s awful, but it’s more common in women’s sports than you think.”
Coyne Schofield has added: “When it comes to sponsorship, many companies look to the World Championships for the chance to have their products associated with the athletes. Because there isn’t much coverage of women’s hockey, sponsors are forced to seek elsewhere when the world championships aren’t held, and they don’t receive the required level of support from their athletes.”
