U.S. Women’s Team Proof That Hockey Is A Family Affair
The 20 women who will represent the United States as women’s hockey makes its Olympic debut next month in Nagano, Japan, share a remarkably common history of sawed-off hockey sticks and junior league games with boys.
In their youth, several used masculine names to sign up for boys leagues. One was sent in her brother’s stead to hockey practice. Few played on all-female teams until late in their careers.
And many also share precisely the same starting point: Their hockey histories began with older brothers. Fourteen women on the U.S. Olympic hockey team have at least one older brother. Through their brothers’ interest, many current Olympians developed their own hockey passions.
“It must be half the team that followed their brothers into the hockey rink,” said Sarah Tueting, a goaltender from Winnetka, Ill. “We grew up at a time when it wasn’t an accepted thing to do. Maybe girls played tennis or soccer, but not hockey. Our brothers weren’t the instigators, but they were the way in where the door was usually closed.”
Unlike women’s softball or soccer, which made their Olympic debuts in 1996, hockey is not a traditionally popular sport among female athletes. Without brothers to follow, many of the current Olympians would have had no role models at all.
Even now, the numbers of girls’ and women’s hockey teams is extremely small. In 1996-97, there were only 910 female teams at any level - an average of fewer than 18 teams per state, according to USA Hockey, the sport’s national governing body. That figure represented more than a 600 percent increase from the 149 teams in existence in 1990-91 - fewer than three per state.
Family ties are hardly unique to women’s hockey. Countless sets of brothers have played in the NHL, including the six Sutters (Darryl, Brian, Rich, Ron, Brent and Duane); Phil and Tony Esposito; Frank and Peter Mahovlich; Bobby and Dennis Hull; Dale, Mark and Dave Hunter; Wayne and Brent Gretzky; and Maurice “Rocket” and Henri “Pocket Rocket” Richard.
“Hockey in general is such a sport families have been involved in,” said forward Cammi Granato, who followed three brothers into hockey, one of whom, Tony, plays for the San Jose Sharks. “Historically, it’s been brothers following brothers into the rink, and so were some little sisters. That’s how we started. It had a tremendous impact on my career.”
Forward Karyn Bye took up hockey at age 7, after her father dressed her in her brother’s hockey gear when he was sick and sent her to his practice. Later, when Bye was 14, her father signed her up for a boys’ hockey league as “K.L. Bye.”
“There is a really strong family component to this team,” Tueting said. “Families have to be strong for parents to allow their kids to do something that, at the time we were doing it, wasn’t accepted. A lot of mothers definitely thought I shouldn’t be skating with their (sons).”
CBS will show several women’s hockey games during the Olympics, though none in prime time.
The United States and Canada are likely to make it to that final game. If that happens, quite a few brothers of U.S. team members will be paying close attention.
xxxx WOMEN’S HOCKEY Sites: The men’s and women’s gold medal hockey games will be played at Big Hat in Nagano, Japan. Other games will be played at Aqua Wing, located in another part of town. New for ‘98: Women’s teams from Canada and the United States competed against each other as long ago as 1916. The first women’s world championship, however, was not held until 1990, under the auspices of the International Ice Hockey Federation. Two years later, the International Olympic Committee voted to include it as a medal sport in the Olympics beginning with the 2002 Games, but organizers of the Nagano Olympics decided to include it four years earlier. The rules: The first thing watchers of women’s hockey will notice in the Olympics is that there’s no checking allowed. While body contact is permitted, skaters must always focus on and play the puck - not the body - first. Collisions and checks still occur incidentally, but players are not allowed to throw their hips or shoulders into opponents. The Olympic tournament: There will be six seeded teams of 20 players each, playing a round-robin format. Each team will play five games, gaining two points for a win, one point for a tie and none for a loss. The four countries with the most points advance to the medal round, in which the top two teams play for the gold medal and the third and fourth teams play for the bronze. The equipment: Women wear the same basic protective equipment as men - helmets, gloves, elbow and knee pads and shin guards - with the addition of female shoulder/chest pads and pelvic protectors.