Players on the U.S. Women’s National Hockey Team announced Wednesday that they will not participate in the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship games beginning on March 31, citing more than a year of stalled negotiations with USA Hockey to secure “fair wages and support.”
The U.S. Women’s National Hockey Team is the reigning world champion, having won gold in six of the last eight World Championships. The United States is hosting the games.
The team was set to arrive in Plymouth, Michigan on March 21 for training camp “when it became clear that adequate progress was not being made in the negotiations,” according to a press release issued by their law firm, Ballard Spahr. As a result, the players informed USA Hockey that “unless meaningful progress is made, they will not report to training camp nor will they defend the team’s gold medal at the World Championship games.”
“We are asking for a living wage and for USA Hockey to fully support its programs for women and girls and stop treating us like an afterthought,” said captain Meghan Duggan, who helped Team USA win six World Championships and silver medals in the 2010 and 2014 Olympics. “We have represented our country with dignity and deserve to be treated with fairness and respect.”
Ballard Spahr attorneys John B. Langel and Dee Spagnuolo are representing the team pro bono in their negotiations in which they are seeking a contract with USA Hockey that includes “appropriate compensation.”
Ballard Spahr notes that The Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act requires USA Hockey “to provide equitable support and encouragement for participation by women where, as is the case with hockey, separate programs for male and female athletes are conducted on a national basis.
“At the younger levels, USA Hockey spends approximately $3.5 million dollars annually to support a schedule of more than 60 games a season for boys participating in its National Team Development Program. There are no comparable development opportunities for girls, and the Women’s National Team plays only nine games in non-Olympic years. Over the course of its yearlong negotiations, the players have made repeated requests of USA Hockey for increased playing opportunities and financial support consistent with the boys’ teams.
“The women also receive inequitable support for equipment, staff, meals, travel expenses, transportation, and publicity. Events leading up to the 2014 Olympics demonstrated that lack of support. During that time, USA Hockey planned the public unveiling of its Olympic jersey—which was worn by both the men’s and women’s teams. USA Hockey invited only the men’s team to that televised event. The women learned of the unveiling by seeing it on TV. In addition, the inside of the jersey was to list all years in which the United States won Olympic gold, but failed to include 1998, the year the women won gold.”
The U.S. Women’s National Hockey Team has medaled in every Olympics. It has dominated the World Championships since its inception, appearing in all 17 gold medal games and winning seven times.
