Gold Interuppted
Gold Interrupted
Last week Team USA Hockey, both men’s and women’s, came up short of their desired goal of collecting gold medals. For the men, almost the entire roster was made up of players who didn’t think they were going to Beijing until the NHL pulled their players back out of the tournament. It was going to be an uphill battle as they would be competing against teams who had been practicing together and getting ready for these Olympic Games. They manufactured a great round robin portion of the tournament and lost by allowing a last-minute game-tying goal and could not match the Slovak’s in the penalty shootout.
Team USA Men’s may have had their sights on gold, but it was the women’s team who had expectations of it. Many of the athletes competing on the female side had been there before, with a high majority of returners being a part of the 2018 Pyeongchang gold medal team. The experience was there to ensure that they would get there, and they did. They ran into a Canadian women’s team built the same way, with a lot of experience, and many with gold medal experience, either in the Olympics, or World Championships. But what these teams and their athletes accomplished, during a pandemic, leading up to the Olympic Games was far more influential than the outcome last Wednesday.
Ladies from both teams competed against one another in two tours, the Dream Gap Tour, where you saw many of the silver and gold medalist mashed together on multiple teams competing against one another, no matter the nationality to raise awareness for equity amongst the women’s professional leagues, a matter plaguing many women’s professional leagues, especially here in North America. The USWNT then went on a preparation tour of their own, the Why My Tour to raise awareness about similar topics as well as put on a show for girls, women, and any fans they may have across the country, playing amateur and college teams, as well as a few stops against the Canadian National Team as well.
Ladies’ tournaments are continuing to grow, and we hope we can help those looking for a place to play by hosting girls hockey tournaments in Michigan. Check out our lineup of near and far future girls tournaments, and we hope to see you there!