Why I'm #ForTheGame: culture change is needed

I wanted to get down why I am for the game. Not to convince you how you should feel, but to remind myself.

I'm for the game because the slow growth model is not advancing fast enough, and any leadership group that accepts the slow growth model is on the wrong path. Because a culture change is needed across the board. That culture change can be ignited by #forthegame. For the game can start conversations that lead to action that change not just women's hockey, but the world we live in (look up the #DreamMaternity hashtag, and Nike's response yesterday as an example).

In one sentence, culture change is needed in the way society values women's sport. Specific to hockey, here is what we need: more coverage from media, more financial investment from...anyone, but specifically corporations, government and governing bodies. More fans. In the current state, no one is really socialized to value women's sport as a professional sport and we need to change that too. If launching women's hockey to the next level, involves calling people out and pointing fingers, yes we need to talk about we can inspire more women to watch women's sports.

I don't know how anyone can look at the investment in women's pro hockey and men's pro hockey and conclude that the status quo is ok. There are a lot of factors at play that hinder investment (unproven market) but sexism is one of them. I don't know what group needs to be called out the loudest (I won't let the fans off the hook), but a group that has power to make change, whose reticence to invest has held women's professional sport back is corporations.

Compare the sponsors of the NWHL to the NHL:

NWHL: Sponsors include the NHL (100k, biggest sponsor). Additionally on the footer of their website they list NYU Langone Health, Dunkin Donuts, MeiGray Group, Veda, Wiss, Legend Rings, Chipwich, Sparx. A total of 9 companies, and you know the NWHL has hustled for 5 years to get that, in an environment that had a lot of things working against them. What they have done is impressive given the barriers they've faced. But it's time to remove some of the barriers.

NHL: Corporate Marketing Partners webpage
Marketing partners include: Adidas, Apple, O.R.G., SAP, Bridgestone, Chemours, Coors Light, Enterprise, Federal Mogul, Honda, Kraft Heinz, Las Vegas, MGM Resorts, Molson Canadian, PepsiCo, PPG, TicketMaster, Travel Nation Hockey, Upper Deck, Cigna, Dunkin, Discover, Geico, FanDuel, Jagermeister, Navy Federal Credit Union, New Amsterdam Vodka, Canadian Tire, Esso, Danone, Kellogs, Reese, Kruger, Mitsubishi Electric, Rogers, Scotiabank, Tim Hortons, VISA. 39 companies, including global brands.

I just don't know how you can look at that, and think it makes sense.

In the mid nineties, Nike released an ad about getting girls into sport with a tagline that became iconic: "If you let me play."

More than twenties years later, the if statement needs to evolve:
If media covers their sports.
If corporations invest in their sports.
If we watch them play.


#ForTheGame can change women's hockey, can launch it to the next level. Not just for little girls in a park saying "if you let me play," but for the women they grew up to be.