Quebec has lessons to learn from Ontario's hockey programs for girls and women

MONTREAL -- Despite its growing popularity since the 1990s, Quebec women and girls' hockey is lagging behind when compared to Ontario.

In 2019-20, there were eight times more girls registered for hockey in Ontario than in Quebec.

According to the latest Hockey Canada report, 51,465 girls were registered for hockey in Ontario in 2019-20, representing 21 per cent of the province's registrations. For the same period in Quebec, there were 6,618 girls playing hockey and they represented only 8 per cent of registrations.

Ontario women also outnumbered Quebec women seven to one on the national team at the last world championships.

"There is a myth in Quebec that if girls play with guys, they will become better. If that were the case, the Ontario girls wouldn't be as strong," said Daniel Taillon, director of Hockey Montréal Féminin.

He believes that in order to increase the number of registrations and retain players in Quebec, female hockey players must develop "by playing with other girls like in Ontario" and that the development of women's hockey requires the creation of more teams and leagues for females.

Danielle Sauvageau, the coach who led the Canadian Olympic women's hockey team to victory at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, agrees.

"If you go to an arena in Ontario, the offer is there for a girl who wants to play on a women's team," she said. "Unfortunately in Quebec, the offer is not yet there in all regions, so there are girls who have to register with the boys, and sometimes the young player ends up being the only girl on the team."

MORE RETENTION

Sauvageau points out that girls play hockey longer when they play with each other, rather than with predominantly male teams.

"At a young age, there is no difference on the ice between boys and girls, but as they grow up, girls often look for a female team, and if they don't find one, they look for another sport, or stop playing sports," she saidaid, noting that "dropping out of sports" is a big problem among teenage girls in Quebec.

In fact, according to the latest Quebec survey on physical activity and sport, about 15 per cent of teenage girls say they are active, compared to 23 per cent of their male peers.

But before registering your daughter in hockey, you need to know that there is a program in your area.

In Montreal, a young girl who wants to play hockey on a women's team must register with the Hockey Montréal Féminin program. She will then find herself in a group of players from all over the city. Hockey Montréal Féminin is independent of the minor hockey associations in the different districts, which are under no obligation to promote women's teams.

Chloé Deraiche, a volunteer involved in the development of women's hockey, believes that the various minor hockey associations should publicize, or at least mention, the existence of female hockey during registration periods.

"When I signed my daughter up to play hockey at the arena a few years ago, they never mentioned the existence of girls' teams," she said, adding that she found out about girls' teams by searching the Internet.

Her daughter Charlie, who started out playing with the boys, now plays in a girls' league.

"It's worth it because the girls really have fun together. I've really seen a renewed motivation for field hockey in my daughter and a sense of belonging that I didn't see before," said Deraiche.

Marcel Patenaude, Hockey Quebec's director of hockey, does not believe that minor hockey associations should be obliged to mention the existence of women's hockey during registration, but recognizes the importance of promoting it.

"Some associations have a desire for girls to play with girls, but not all associations do, and ultimately it is up to the girl," he said. "If all the girls played with each other, it would create an even stronger model and for us, it is also easier to observe and recruit the different players when they are together, that would be ideal."

Sauvageau adds that "women's hockey has taken a long time to get organized in Quebec."

"It's all volunteer-based and a lot of times you start to see some equity, but there is a natural interest in men's hockey, supposedly because there are opportunities for our boys to compete."

BETTER ICE TIME FOR BOYS

Among the inequity issues faced by some women's teams in Quebec are access to rinks and scheduling quality.

"Some stakeholders told us that there were fewer ice hours available for girls and less good choices for ice hours, whether it is on weekends very early or very late, but we have to be careful; these are observations that change from one region to another, it can vary greatly," said Sauvageau.

Patenaude recognizes that quality ice time is an issue and maintains that his organization "is developing clear guidelines for the different associations" so that there is more equity between boys' and girls' teams.

DEVELOPING ELITE PLAYERS

Of the 22 players on Canada's roster at last summer's World Women's Ice Hockey Championships, 15 were from Ontario and only two players, Marie-Philip Poulin and Mélodie Daoust, were from Quebec.

In 2002, when Sauvageau led the team that won gold at the Salt Lake City Olympics, six Quebecers and nine Ontarians were on the team.

Sauvageau believes that "high level opportunities" other than the national team are needed to encourage the participation of young Quebec women.

"After the university level, there is nothing for elite players in Quebec," she laments.

While waiting for the return of a professional women's team in the metropolis, Sauvageau, who is also the general manager of the Carabins hockey program at the University of Montreal, offers a "professional structure" to elite players.

Since the dissolution of the Canadian Women's Hockey League in 2019, Sauvageau has been directing the 21.02 High Performance Hockey Centre, which is located at the Verdun Auditorium.

Elite players can receive state-of-the-art training, sports science and medical services, and have access to international-standard facilities. The Quebec government recently invested $375,000 in the centre, in part to encourage "the development of inspirational role models for young girls" and "to promote Quebec representation on the national team".

This is a unique project in Canada that aims to bring together young talent and develop them.

"The next step is to establish a professional team at the top of the pyramid," said Sauvageau.

Last summer, the 21.02 Centre, which refers to the first Olympic gold medal won by Canadian women on February 21, 2002, organized the Women's Hockey Summit, which aimed to compile a report on "all the observations, challenges and findings related to women's hockey" in Quebec.

This report, which will notably mention "the insufficiency of resources granted to women's hockey, the need to establish a common action plan and to unify the offer of services," is currently being written and will be published very soon.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 6, 2021.