New initiative promotes equitable ice access for girls' hockey

A new initiative in Canada aims to make hockey more accessible for girls by improving ice time allocation. The Future of Hockey Lab seeks to bring transparency to rink usage and ensure fair access for all groups across the country. Amy Laski started a hockey program for girls because she saw a lack of options for her daughters. Her Toronto-based program focuses on keeping sports enjoyable for girls, aligning with Hockey Canada's goals to remove barriers for female athletes. One major issue is access to ice time, particularly during prime hours, which tends to favor male groups due to historical contracts. In Canada, there is currently no policy ensuring equitable access to ice time. This has made it tough for new programs to secure fair allotments during popular weekday evenings and weekends. The Future of Hockey Lab's Open Ice project aims to collect data on who is using the ice and at what times, allowing for better scheduling and increased fairness in ice allocation. Lindsey MacIntosh, who is leading the data collection, points out that many existing agreements date back decades, even before the rise of girls' hockey programs. The project's goal is to shine a light on ice use across Canada. Various arenas, including the Ford Performance Centre in Toronto, are already contributing data. The demand for prime-time ice is high, and costs can be a barrier. At the Ford Performance Centre, prime-time rates are significantly higher than in taxpayer-subsidized facilities. Hockey Canada aims to increase female participation to over 170,000 by 2030, but ice availability is a critical challenge. Some groups, like the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association, report turning away many players due to a lack of ice time. Simply expanding rink facilities may not be an easy fix because of financial constraints on operators. The current focus is on making existing ice time allocation fairer. Laski faced challenges securing ice time for her girls' league and discovered that Toronto collects data on ice use but does not apply it to improve fairness. After media attention on her struggle, the city agreed to review its booking processes to ensure equitable access, particularly for new female groups. While progress is slow, Laski remains hopeful. She believes that if Toronto can set a fair policy for ice allocation, it could serve as a model for other municipalities facing similar issues.