Today is National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD), an annual day of observance dedicated to celebrating the accomplishments of female athletes. Today, we honor the ongoing struggle for equality and the achievements of women and girls in sports over the years. NGWSD is about telling our story, the story of women in sports, to break down gender stereotypes and inspire more women of all ages to participate and show everyone what “playing like a girl” really means.
It is hard to fathom that just over 50 years ago, Title IX – the infamous statute that protects people from discrimination “on the basis of sex” in federally-funded education programs or activities – did not exist. If you are anything like me and can’t understand how 50 years ago now means the 1970s, not the ‘50s, it feels even more ridiculous. Think about it this way: Starbucks existed before sex discrimination was banned in the United States. We were walking on the moon and sending satellites to orbit Mars before schools were required to fund women’s athletic programs (before that, women only received about 2% of college athletic budgets).
Whether you are a Boomer, Gen-X’er, Millennial, or Gen-Z’er, you know that while there has been a significant improvement since the days when women were not allowed to do things like participate in the Olympics (1900) or run in the Boston marathon (1972), we are certainly not there yet.
A 2019 US Department of Education survey noted that 87% of NCAA schools offered disproportionately higher rates of athletic opportunities to male athletes compared to their enrollment. Equally concerning is the declining number of female head coaches in women’s college sports from 90% in 1971 to just 43% in 2019. Those statistics, along with the vivid examples we have seen on social media in the past few years from the US Women’s Soccer Team regarding the gender pay gap and the NCAA Basketball Tournament’s issues with their women’s weight room accommodations, are proof that this issue lives on in spite of Supreme Court rulings.
This article is not meant to lament the plight of female athletes, although I do believe it necessary to note that we for some reason still have to constantly prove that we deserve to be out there on the field, court, rink, slope…the list goes on. This article is meant to celebrate where we are today, to honor the advancements we have made so far, and to thank those helping to drive the efforts for girls and women in ball hockey.
Play Like a Girl
To commemorate NGWSD, I reached out to several members of the United Women’s Ball Hockey Foundation and Community Support and Development Board to talk to them about their experiences in the sport and their goals for the ball hockey community.
Melissa Sweeney, co-direct of the National Ball Hockey League (NBHL) Women’s NJ/Philly division and social media maven for UWBHF, played nearly every sport known to (wo)man growing up: softball, soccer, field hockey, throwing javelin, and running track. As an adult, she has fallen head over heels for ball hockey.
“As you get into the world of ball hockey, it pulls you in and you fall in love,” said Sweeney. “We only have one coed league up in North Jersey, but I know there is so much untapped potential here with field hockey and ice hockey women that would also fall in love with the sport if given the opportunity to play.”
Her goal, in addition to building out the North Jersey women’s ball hockey community, is to see more tournaments include women’s divisions rather than just men’s and coed. The recently announced women’s division of the NBHL is a great start; coming just a year after the launch of the men’s division, this shows the importance the league has placed on its female athletes.
After playing softball and field hockey as a youth and recreational sports as an adult, Director of Pacific Coast Hockey and the California Division of the NBHL, and member of UWBHF Community Support and Development team, Beth Marhefka, started playing ball hockey in Pittsburgh at the age of 22 and has since participated in four USA National Teams. Beth decided to get more involved in the sport that had given her so much over the years – friends, community, competition, well-being, and belonging—and be a part of the movement to progress the sport.
“I’m proud to be a part of the organizations that act as support structures for women in hockey (UWBHF, USABH, NBHL, EMPowerplay) and the conversation to grow the sport – specifically women in the sport,” said Marhefka, who is also working to develop youth and women’s programming on the west coast.
As the first (but not only) female to be a part of EMPowerplay – the internationally recognized sports initiative that creates access and empowers youth and communities – Marhefka has been a leader in driving awareness, opportunities, and female participation in the sport and empowering women to get more involved and take on leadership roles. Her goal is for there to be as many women who play as there are men, and for women to have the same number and scale of opportunities as the men have.
“Out here in California,” she said, “my ultimate goal is to have thriving women’s leagues, tournaments, and clinics for females of all ages, abilities and skill levels.”
Founder of the Pittsburgh Women’s Ball Hockey League, General Manager of the USABH Women’s Masters Teams, recently named Commissioner of the NBHL’s Women’s Tier, and long-time hockey mom, Jen Free first created opportunities to play where they did not yet exist for her. Over the years, Free says she has seen “more opportunities for women to take on leadership roles, which is crucial to growing any athletic game.”
As one of these leaders, Free is dedicated to growing the sport for players of all skill levels, giving them opportunities to learn from more veteran players. “It’s been a joy to watch new women find this sport and call it their own,” said Free.
But it’s about more than just the sport. It’s also about the community that, for so many of us, has grown into a family. Think about what power that has as we continue to grow women’s ball hockey. As Free noted, “the most important thing to a person’s well being is a feeling of belonging and connection.”
Ball hockey has given so much to so many of us, and most of all, it has brought us together. National Girls and Women in Sports Day was established to recognize those who are using their voices, talents, and opportunities to create unbiased access to sports for women and girls, and we would like to thank these and the other fierce leaders of the women’s ball hockey community for all of their efforts over the years. We have come a long way.
Let’s help more girls and women find their place with us by continuing to drive progress in our beloved sport. #NGWSD
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