Women Ice Hockey Officials and Gender Relations in Officiating

This study explores the current experiences of women ice hockey officials in Canada. To guide my research, I applied a Critical Feminist Theory framework to data from document analyses, observations of hockey games and semi-structured interviews with women ice hockey officials from across Canada. The results show that women ice hockey officials face numerous challenges in obtaining higher certification levels and having opportunities to officiate higher level hockey games. The career paths and career contingencies for women ice hockey officials differ from their men colleagues due to the hegemonic structures that construct hockey as a masculine space, and as a result, these structures directly influenced the participating women’s ability to advance in officiating in Canada. The participants shared experiences of exclusion at sites of training and education, limitations to advancing, and disinvolvement such as quitting/dropping-out, and retirement. This study unpacks the complex tensions between the ‘love of the game’ and systemic hegemonic exclusion institutionally, and calls for policy and procedures to better support women ice hockey officials.M.Sc