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The CWHL (Les Canadiennes de Montreal) and NWHL (Boston Pride) will be having their first ever inter-league game at the 2016 Winter Classic. This game will provide an enormous amount of free publicity for both leagues and women’s hockey in general. This could possibly be a once in a lifetime opportunity to play at such a venue for these players.

As per Hilary Knight, many members of the Pride won’t be able to attend because they’ll be at the US National team’s training camp.

The training camp is to prepare for the 2016 World Championship, which is taking place in March. The Winter Classic would be taking place on the LAST day of the training camp.

Who are the US national team members who won’t be attending?

Hilary Knight

Brianna Decker

Kacey Bellamy

Zoe Hickel

Alyssa Gagliardi

Gigi Marvin

Amanda Pelkey

Jordan Smelker

USA Hockey hasn’t responded to this situation yet, but if you want to let them know your thoughts, their twitter is here.

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[doryandthewhale]

#LetThemPlay

[fitnessfitblrfitspogirls]

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reblog if you stand with the United States Women’s National team in their fight against gender inequality 

[her-league-blog]

BETHANY HAMILTON | SURFING

one of the first female athletes i heard about growing up was bethany hamilton. back in 2003, she was attacked by a 14 foot shark and lost her arm from the shoulder down. despite losing her arm, as well as 60% of her blood, bethany was back on her surf board 1 month later. talk about falling off the horse and getting right back on.

since then, she has placed in countless competitions, appeared on various tv shows, and written a book and produced a movie about her haunting experience. she went pro in 2007 and stands as one of the world’s top surfers. 

after her shark attack, bethany fought back and taught herself to adapt. the odds were against her, but she courageously came back fighting. adapting and becoming pro without a major limb exemplifies her valiant spirit.

aside from surfing, bethany launched her own foundation, which supports other shark attack victims, amputees, and aims to inspire through her experience. not only is she a role model as an athlete, she also creates inspiration through her charitable efforts and motivational speaking. 

bethany’s courage, faith, strength, and determination make her not only a great role model, but a hero too.

[her-league-blog]

LEXIE  |  ROWING

lexie wasn’t one of those kids who picked up an oar at the age of 4 and realized she was destined to be a rower. she heard about the sport in passing while in high school. while she had been a varsity cross country runner and competitive figure skater, she hadn’t considered rowing before. 

she fell in love with the sport after taking a ‘learn to row’ course and began rowing at the san diego rowing club. soon thereafter, she was bumped up to varsity after being spotted by susan francia, a two0time olympian. 

during her first year of rowing, lexie went to the usrowing southwest regionals and then usrowing youth nationals, where she and her teammates missed the third place slot by 0.001 seconds. 

anyone else would’ve torn their hair out because of that 0.001 of a second, but lexie channeled that frustration into motivation. within weeks, she was selected to attend the usrowing women’s junior national team selection camp and was the last rower cut before the final roster. 

lexie went on to place sixth at the usrowing junior world single scull trials and second in the women’s youth double sculls at the head of the charles in boston, ma. during the fall of her senior year of high school, she committed to rowing at uc berkley, joining one of the most respected women’s collegiate rowing teams in the country. 

seeing lexie’s extraordinary and quick success in the last few years proves that you don’t need to be a child prodigy to triumph in sports. she’s another prime example of how passion and willpower create the most powerful athletes. 

[her-league-blog]

oh. my. god.

[her-league-blog]

if you’ve ever wanted a true hockey love story, just take a look at jenny and ben scrivens.

jenny met her now-husband ben, a goalie in the edmonton oilers organization, when they both played hockey for cornell university. it was love at first sight in the early days of facebook stalking and the two have been together ever since. 

jenny had to give up hockey after college but has had a successful pr/communications career while following ben from toronto to los angeles to edmonton. 

but with this year’s inception of the nwhl, what do you do when your husband plays pro hockey? you play pro hockey too.

jenny now plays for the new york riveters while ben plays for the oiler’s ahl affiliate in california. her paycheck is nowhere near ben’s $2.3mil salary, so she also acts on the nwhl’s public relations council. many nwhl players maintain careers off the ice to compensate their salaries. 

jenny doesn’t play only for her love of the sport:  “i’m really excited about helping grow the game and getting other girls interested in playing. i’m so excited for young girls who want to play hockey, they can look at me and say, ‘this could be me one day.’ that’s the bigger picture.”

she realizes her potential for creating change within women’s sports and, for that reason, stands as one of my favorite female athletes. 

a loving relationship, an thriving career, and a chance to play professional sports for a living? jenny’s living the dream.

[her-league-blog]

on income inequality

we’re already pretty accustomed to income inequality - in the US, women make $0.77 to men’s $1. 

then we shouldn’t be surprised by the disparity of income in professional sports. depending on the sport, women make an infinitesimal fraction of their male counterparts’ salaries. 

the fact of the matter is: salaries are based on salary caps, funding, ticket sales, etc, and most women’s pro leagues are in their infancy. at this point in time, women can’t be paid as much as men.

that doesn’t mean it’s fair. women are just as talented, just as athletic, and just as powerful. they’re doing the same things, but being paid way less. 

a bit part of the problem is media coverage. less coverage means less exposure, which means smaller audiences, smaller fanbases, fewer tickets sold, less money, fewer sponsorships, tiny salaries. it also means that fewer girls are seeing their potential role models and are less inspired to take part in sports compared to boys, which leads to fewer high-caliber female athletes. it’s a vicious cycle. 

so the question stands: what can we do about it right now?

we can throw on our jerseys, attend games, and cheer our heads off. we can advocate, support, and spread the word. we can encourage the media to cover women’s sports. we can volunteer as coaches and instructors and encourage young girls to play. we can raise awareness.

that’s how it worked for men’s sports and that’s how it’ll work for women’s sports, however many decades late we may be. 

--- disclaimer: the figures and charts above may not be not visually accurate, may not display the most up to date information and are based on basic research. view them as interpretations, not fact.

[her-league-blog]

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[eat-play-read-run]

Amazing WNBA promo video for the Playoffs and Final. Make sure you tune in and check out these amazing athletes. 

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[her-league-blog]

SUSAN  |  YOGA

susan teaches and practices yoga out of a gratitude she have for her teachers, her yogic studies and the practice itself. yoga has given her a sense of the positive in life; another source of both physical and mental support; a sense of connectedness; an increased sense of peace and inner quiet.

her teachers have had a profound impact on her life as both a yoga student and teacher; besides showing her ways to maintain physical health and vitality through asana (yoga poses), they’ve taught her patience, non-competitiveness, mindfulness and non-attachment —these aspects of yoga are a far cry from the usual requirements of athletics, but are the welcome result of combining asana, breath and mind.

susan’s interest lies in sharing yoga with anyone who is open to exploring and willing to practice, with a focus on how an aging population can best enjoy their own yoga practice. as she practices and teaches, she enthusiastically remains a student, always learning.

the jury is still out on whether yoga is a sport or not, but susan proves that becoming an athlete and inspiring and teaching others transcends age and gender.

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[hplyrikz]

[her-league-blog]

on invincibility

ronda rousey was on top of the world. she’s been named the best female athlete in the world, is one of the top paid ufc fighters, and up until a few days ago, was undefeated.

ronda thought she was invincible. the invincibility came to an halt with an abrupt kick to the head from holly holm. her ego got the best of her and her immortality slipped away.

that feeling of invincibility can be poisonous to an athlete (really, to anyone trying to succeed). while it’s good to overpower fear, you have to be pragmatic about your goals too. being the best doesn’t come from easy wins, it comes from tough work, determination, and unbreakable mental strength.

ronda may be walking around with her tail between her legs, but her goal now is to rebuild that identity despite the loss. now she has to face the toughest lesson: getting back up. she has to prove herself to not only herself, but to those who look up to her - all of those girls who’ve been inspired, joined a gym, and dream of becoming a multimillion dollar athlete just like ronda. 

ronda rousey isn’t invincible. what she’s had to overcome to get to where she is - her emotions, her body image, past abuse, ridicule - is exactly what made her into the world-class athlete she is today. after she takes time to lick her wounds, she’ll come back even better and stronger to prove that she is a champion. 

if we’re to take anything from seeing her dramatic loss, it’s that no one is invincible. but being able to get back up and keep fighting is proof of a true athlete.

[gethealthyeveryday]

[theultimatehealthandvitality]