The History Of Women’s Ice Hockey In North America
Girl’s and women’s hockey is one of the fastest growing sports in the world as more and more countries participate in the now Olympic sport and as more and more leagues are founded to take the sport to a level beyond the college campus and international competition.
Beginning in frigid Ottawa Canada in either 1889 or 1892, the offical starting date differs between the Canandian Hockey Association and Total Hockey, the official encyclopedia of the National Hockey League, women were playing competitive ice hockey, although at that time dressed in long woolen skirts, turtleneck sweaters, hats and gloves.
Through the 1920s and the 1930s, womens hockey held its own as a sport and continued to generate interest. Although War II and the 1950′s and 1960′s reduced interest in the sport to a mere curiosity, it gained significant recognition in 1980, when it became an intercollegiate sport in Canada. And, by 1992, college campuses throughout the United States accepted the sport and it became recognized as an official intercollegiate activity.
In 1990, eight countries competited for the Women’s Ice Hockey Championship and in 1998, the sport made its international debut in the Olympic games in Japan where it generated widespread interest..
