Growth of the Game: Broadcasting, Attendance, and Coaching
Since the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin, when equal television coverage was given to men’s and women’s hockey games,35 there has been a considerable rise in public support and subsequent media interest of women’s teams. Today, Campbell-Pascal is a broadcaster on Sportsnet, and has provided commentary at three Olympic Games.36 In 1991 and 1995, when high-performance women’s hockey was still getting off the ground, the arenas the women played in were nearly empty. Twenty-four years later, the arena for the women’s gold medal game at the 2019 Canada Games in Red Deer was more than full.
MacLeod, 2019 Team Alberta coach, recounted that the people had to be turned away from the game because they were over the fire capacity. “The lineup to get into this venue, it snakes around the building. So everyone in Red Deer was trying to get in this game, they had to lock it down cuz it was over fire code. So now these young punks come out of the tunnel to this roaring crowd. Like that’s what they’re going to remember, like the medals are cool and the win is awesome, but they’re going to remember that energy.”37 Attendance for women’s hockey has risen dramatically in recent years while high-performance opportunities continue to grow for women’s hockey, and the Canada Games were at the front, helping lead the way for high-performance women’s hockey.
Women have been critical to Canadian sport achievement. In hockey, the women’s national team has continually outperformed the men’s national team, winning four gold medals and two silver medals38 in comparison to the men’s three gold medals and a bronze medal over the same time span.39 But, beyond hockey, women have and continue to make exceptional contributions to Canada’s sporting achievement. Despite this, they remain underrepresented within coaching.40 The Canada Games, in partnership with the Provincial/Territorial Coaching Representatives and the Coaching Association of Canada, created the Women in Coaching Canada Games Apprenticeship Program in 2005 to help close the gender gap facing women in coaching. The Apprenticeship Program sends two women from each province and territory to the Canada Games and is seen as essential to the advancement of women in coaching.41 “It was a goal of mine since starting coaching, to one day coach the Canada Games.”42 The Canada Games are a place of opportunity for players and coaches alike, significant to the advancement of Canadian sport, and a place where goals become a reality.