The playoffs have only just begun and UBC is already turning heads. This past weekend, the 'Birds played the Regina Cougars in what was expected to be a good quarterfinal match up — UBC would emerge victorious.
What wasn’t expected was the 'Birds leaving Saturday having scored 10 goals over their two games, with the Cougars managing to net one in response.
Towards the end of Saturday's game, the audience was treated to a fascinating sight in the last five of the third period, as the penalty box housed four Cougars at once. Not to be outdone by his players, one of Regina’s coaches threw his rulebook onto the ice during play in protest of the call, landing them another penalty.
After the barnburner of a weekend seen by the T-Birds, they’ll be going up against last year’s league champs, the Manitoba Bisons, this coming weekend. The match up promises to be a test of both teams and, if nothing else, will continue this playoff season’s trend of making headlines.
Speaking of making headlines, last week saw the T-Birds make mainstream news before they hit the playoff ice, as fourth-year defender Mikayla Ogrodniczuk took to Twitter to express her discontentment with UBC Athletics showing preference to the men when scheduling playoff games. This sentiment was echoed by former teammate Kristen Toth and resulted in UBC Athletics changing its policy of automatically scheduling women’s games earlier. This story was covered by many news outlets, including the CBC, Daily Hive Vancouver, and your’s truly.
So is that it? A player complained about a policy they thought was sexist and it was changed to award preference through performance? Not quite.
UBC Athletics did well in their recognition of the issue, but its perhaps been a long-time coming. The women’s team have proven year after year, game after game, that they are some of the best players this school has seen and deserve to have that roaring crowd behind them, as well, but they have yet to feature as the Winter Classic hosts.
It’s important to remember the time and effort these players put into making their performance the best it can be. For the women’s team, that means plenty of working out, training and travelling, often missing classes due to flights or games scheduled in the mid-afternoon. The players are both academics and athletes, and those two titles rarely go hand-in-hand without some conflict in their midst. Regardless, these players keep performing at their best and occasionally break a record or two. Not to say the men's team don't work as hard or earn important wins, but again the record shows that the women perhaps have the upper hand when it comes down to playoff probabilities.
Even if you don’t watch them, even if you don’t like hockey in general, it’s important to remember that there are some dedicated fans that see themselves on the ice when they watch the women play. Don’t believe me? During their game against the Cougars on February 16, I noticed something unique about that game’s crowd. UBC Athletics counted about 250 people in attendance — the majority, from where I sat, were young girls in jerseys of their own, standing near the glass, breath fogging things up as they avidly watched their favourite skaters.
I had the opportunity to speak with one of these girls, Saya, who was more than happy to tell me about how much she loves hockey. It turns out that Saya regularly attends the T-Birds games with her dad, and was quick as a whip in telling me her favourite player was #26, Mathea Fischer, who she tries to emulate in her own hockey games.
It’s easy to write varsity athletes off and push sport to the side as this campus continues to grow and make headlines. If you are one of those who pushes it to the wayside, I implore you to look closer and see just how hard the players there work to ensure they stay at the top of their game, in hopes of making the Thunderbird name, their families and their teammates proud.
Beyond that, it’s good to remember that there exists a real gender bias in many sports, oftentimes coming from both the institution around the team as well as the people in the crowds. Though the issue might not be directly relevant to you, it’s certainly relevant for girls like Saya, who see themselves in every player on the ice, court, pitch, etc. The teams deserve an even shot at getting the fans behind them but, even more than that, the players deserve the chance to reap the rewards of that grueling training by having their time in the limelight, regardless of gender.