“I think everyone is really empowered after these two days,” said Kim Davis, Senior EVP at the National Hockey League.
photo: © International Ice Hockey Federation
There was a special mood — a go-get atmosphere — in the women’s hockey sessions at the Global Hockey Forum. It’s time for the women’s game to take the next step, on a wide front.
“It was an amazing two days of discovery and learning, and we have a huge opportunity, as the entire hockey ecosystem, to make hockey more ubiquitous across the globe,” said Kim Davis, Senior Executive Vice President, Social Impact, Growth Initiatives & Legislative Affairs at the National Hockey League. In her role, she reports to Commissioner Gary Bettman.
“I think everyone is really empowered after these two days,” she added.
The women’s track moderator, Cassie Campbell-Pascall, TV analyst and former Team Canada captain, recapped the event with her key takeaways:
“Expectations without agreement are only expectations, diversity does not mean lowering the bar, and inclusion is not copying and pasting. Leadership lives where skills meet will, and the other side of fear is freedom,” she said, quoting some of the speakers in the women’s hockey track.
“I expect change, and I hope people go home with the understanding that if we want to grow the game, we need both men and women,” she added to IIHF.com.
The first women’s IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship was played in Ottawa thirty-five years ago, in 1990. Since then, the women’s game has grown, and today there’s a professional league for women, and women are making headway on all fronts — as coaches, analysts, and managers at all levels of hockey.
The growth hasn’t been linear, and it hasn’t been fast enough. Hockey is not alone in that, noted Barbara Žibret Kralj in her talk, “Women in Leadership: Where Do We Stand in Business and Sport? A Data-Backed Comparison.”
“At the current pace, reaching global gender parity for chairs and CEOs in business will not be achieved before 2073 and 2111,” she noted. “Women hold only 20 percent of senior leadership roles, even though 50–60 percent of business and STEM graduates in Europe are women.”
In sports, female representation isn’t better. Only 12 percent of sports federations have a female president, and just 29 percent have women as vice presidents or board members. And representation matters, said India Gary-Martin, Founder and CEO at Leadership for Execs.
Representation became visible during the second day of the Global Hockey Forum when the speakers in the women’s track formed a real All-Star Team of former players turned coaches and GMs, from Mel Davidson to Gina Kingsbury to Kim Martin-Hasson to Maria Rooth to Emma Terho.
“It’s been an amazing event, and this is the right way to go. We got a lot of people and many federations together, and there was a lot of knowledge in the room,” said Kim Martin-Hasson, GM of Frölunda Gothenburg.
“There are new opportunities for women, both on the ice and in leadership roles. The game is growing. Even if sometimes it doesn’t feel like you’re doing much in your country, you’re creating pathways for others, and sooner or later, you’ll get your opportunity to shine. Every effort to make the game better is important,” she added.
As Campbell-Pascall and Davis noted, the future of the game depends on growth on the women’s side, both on the ice, in locker rooms, boardrooms, and in the stands.
“There is data pointing to the fact that if hockey wants to thrive, it’s going to depend on the women’s game and women. Women already make up 42 percent of the fan base in the NHL — we’d better start talking about that. We also know that more than 50 percent of Chief Marketing Officers are women, and they’re the ones making sponsorship decisions,” Davis said.
One of the key themes at the Global Hockey Forum was the transfer of knowledge, and the women’s sessions were at the forefront of that.
“What we spent two days talking about is: let’s get to action. We need to start sharing best practices across groups that face similar challenges. The NHL has been testing and learning for the past five to seven years, and we need to start sharing our best practices globally as smaller nations build their programs. And there’s a commitment to do that,” Davis said.
“We also need to integrate these streams. Marketing, development, and women should be horizontal, not vertical. If there’s one takeaway, it’s that we need to collaborate with the big H in mind: how do we grow the game of hockey — because it will depend on the growth of women,” she added.
“Just believe in us. Treat us as equals. Show us that we are a priority,” Campbell-Pascall concluded.
“It was an amazing two days of discovery and learning, and we have a huge opportunity, as the entire hockey ecosystem, to make hockey more ubiquitous across the globe,” said Kim Davis, Senior Executive Vice President, Social Impact, Growth Initiatives & Legislative Affairs at the National Hockey League. In her role, she reports to Commissioner Gary Bettman.
“I think everyone is really empowered after these two days,” she added.
The women’s track moderator, Cassie Campbell-Pascall, TV analyst and former Team Canada captain, recapped the event with her key takeaways:
“Expectations without agreement are only expectations, diversity does not mean lowering the bar, and inclusion is not copying and pasting. Leadership lives where skills meet will, and the other side of fear is freedom,” she said, quoting some of the speakers in the women’s hockey track.
“I expect change, and I hope people go home with the understanding that if we want to grow the game, we need both men and women,” she added to IIHF.com.
The first women’s IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship was played in Ottawa thirty-five years ago, in 1990. Since then, the women’s game has grown, and today there’s a professional league for women, and women are making headway on all fronts — as coaches, analysts, and managers at all levels of hockey.
The growth hasn’t been linear, and it hasn’t been fast enough. Hockey is not alone in that, noted Barbara Žibret Kralj in her talk, “Women in Leadership: Where Do We Stand in Business and Sport? A Data-Backed Comparison.”
“At the current pace, reaching global gender parity for chairs and CEOs in business will not be achieved before 2073 and 2111,” she noted. “Women hold only 20 percent of senior leadership roles, even though 50–60 percent of business and STEM graduates in Europe are women.”
In sports, female representation isn’t better. Only 12 percent of sports federations have a female president, and just 29 percent have women as vice presidents or board members. And representation matters, said India Gary-Martin, Founder and CEO at Leadership for Execs.
Representation became visible during the second day of the Global Hockey Forum when the speakers in the women’s track formed a real All-Star Team of former players turned coaches and GMs, from Mel Davidson to Gina Kingsbury to Kim Martin-Hasson to Maria Rooth to Emma Terho.
“It’s been an amazing event, and this is the right way to go. We got a lot of people and many federations together, and there was a lot of knowledge in the room,” said Kim Martin-Hasson, GM of Frölunda Gothenburg.
“There are new opportunities for women, both on the ice and in leadership roles. The game is growing. Even if sometimes it doesn’t feel like you’re doing much in your country, you’re creating pathways for others, and sooner or later, you’ll get your opportunity to shine. Every effort to make the game better is important,” she added.
As Campbell-Pascall and Davis noted, the future of the game depends on growth on the women’s side, both on the ice, in locker rooms, boardrooms, and in the stands.
“There is data pointing to the fact that if hockey wants to thrive, it’s going to depend on the women’s game and women. Women already make up 42 percent of the fan base in the NHL — we’d better start talking about that. We also know that more than 50 percent of Chief Marketing Officers are women, and they’re the ones making sponsorship decisions,” Davis said.
One of the key themes at the Global Hockey Forum was the transfer of knowledge, and the women’s sessions were at the forefront of that.
“What we spent two days talking about is: let’s get to action. We need to start sharing best practices across groups that face similar challenges. The NHL has been testing and learning for the past five to seven years, and we need to start sharing our best practices globally as smaller nations build their programs. And there’s a commitment to do that,” Davis said.
“We also need to integrate these streams. Marketing, development, and women should be horizontal, not vertical. If there’s one takeaway, it’s that we need to collaborate with the big H in mind: how do we grow the game of hockey — because it will depend on the growth of women,” she added.
“Just believe in us. Treat us as equals. Show us that we are a priority,” Campbell-Pascall concluded.