While college students have been pushing through midterms and enjoying spring break adventures, the U.S. women’s hockey team was standing strong and united as they boycotted the World Championships. Why? To fight for equality.
Joining the members of the U.S. Women’s national soccer team, the players of the U.S. Women’s hockey team took action to fight inequality. The team boycotted the World Championships, stating that unless a new deal involving raises in their wages was created, they would not play. People across the country, both male and female, publically shared their support of the team; the boycott became a source of hope for future progress regarding equality. However, not everyone was in support of the women’s call to action. While negotiations were being made, authoritative USA hockey figures were discreetly working to find skaters to replace the official national team at the World Championships.
In an article posted on ESPN.com entitled The top takeaways from historic U.S. women’s hockey deal, Craig Custance addresses the central ideas everyone should know about the outcome of the boycott. The drive for the boycott was equality of pay, but secondary effects of the event may also prove to have positive outcomes. The most important takeaways? The U.S. women’s hockey team will finally earn livable wages that will allow the athletes to focus on their training without worrying about finding and maintaining second or even third outside incomes. Additionally, the athlete’s insurance and travel expenses are now finally taken care of in an equal manner to that of the men’s team. And finally, these women are currently representing the U.S. at the World Championships.