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“We have represented our country with dignity and deserve to be treated with fairness and respect,” Meghan Duggan, team captain of the United States women’s national hockey team, announced this Wednesday after conflict with USA Hockey.
According to Stephen Whyno, with ABC News, the team is currently threatening to boycott the International Ice Hockey Federation world championship over wage disputes.
The women’s team has won seven gold medals and ten silver medals in the world championships dating back to 1990 and have also achieved one gold and three silver Olympic medals, TeamUSA.com notes.
The reigning team was supposed to arrive at training in Plymouth, Michigan on March 21 before the beginning of the tournament on March 31. However, according to ESPNW, “players said they believe meaningful progress was not being made in the pay negotiations and, as a result, informed USA Hockey on Wednesday that unless that happens, they will not report to Michigan.”
Captain Meghan Duggan asked the USA Hockey group to “fully support its programs for women and girls and stop treating us like an afterthought,” Stephen Whyno reports in the LA Daily News.
The team’s concerns stem from USA Hockey only giving the female athletes financial support “during the months leading up to the Olympics” despite their year-long training. According to Camila Domonoske of NPR, players were only paid $1,000 a month “for six months every Olympic cycle” with “virtually nothing else” for the years in between the games.
Chris Kuc further reveals in the Chicago Tribune that the group has been bereft of payment for “equipment, staff, meals, travel expenses, transportation and publicity.”
The hockey team is currently being represented by the Ballard Spahr law firm as they pursue a contract with USA Hockey for better pay that all players feel “is appropriate compensation” ESPNW states.
Many players have commented on the unequal treatment they receive compared to the U.S men’s hockey team, even in 2017. Captain and forward Meghan Duggan says that their training time and dedication to the sport year round is not being supported fairly and justly. She recently voiced that the team wants USA Hockey to support their wishes and to “stop treating us like an afterthought,” Whyno reports in LA Daily News.
Works Cited:
Domonoske, Camila. “U.S. Women’s Hockey Team Boycotting World Championships To Protest Low Pay.” NPR. NPR, 15 Mar. 2017. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.
Kuc, Chris. “U.S. Women’s Hockey Players to Boycott World Championships over Wage Dispute.” Chicagotribune.com. N.p., 16 Mar. 2017. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.
“U.S. Women’s Hockey Team Threatens to Sit out World Championships.”ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.
Whyno, Stephen. “US Women’s Hockey Players Threaten Boycott over Wages.” ABC News. ABC News Network, n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.
Whyno, Stephen. “US Women’s Hockey Team Threatens Boycott over Wages.” LA Daily News. LA Daily News, 15 Mar. 2017. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.
“Women’s Teams.” Team USA Hockey. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2017