ISSUE 3

 

Contents

• Title IX - What this Piece of History means to You

• Canadian Hockey Training Tips from the Coaching staff of the University of Guelph Women'sHockey Team

Title IX: What it is and What it Means to You

"It gives me the chance to play". - reader of www.wnba.com
Without Title IX, would grrlAthlete even exist?

In 1972 in the USA, college sports adapted a ruling called Title IX that increased university female sports participation. Without this ruling, female sports might still be in the dark ages. Consider these numbers: In 1972, only one girl out of every 27 participated in sports. Today, the number is one girl out of every 2.5! What a difference 30 years has made. In fact, young female sport participation in now equal to young male sport participation.

What is Title IX?
The most important point of Title IX stated that an equal amount of funding must be spent for both men's and women's University sports in the NCAA. Without funding, female athletics had suffered, but the new spending allowed better coaching and recruiting in female sports, and led to a greater involvement and interest in female sports. Title IX simply allows female athletes a greater opportunity to develop their skills. The decision of the NCAA to adopt Title IX is one of the most influential rulings ever with respect to female sports. It has led to allowing the first female football league and the first female to ever play pro hockey in a man's league. Without Title IX, there would likely be no WNBA.

So much of the success of today's professional women athletes can be traced back to the institution of Title IX. The WNBA says, "our players have become 21st century role models for legions of young girls". Role models promoting physical activity are becoming plentiful for young women, at a very important time. With the increase in the number of adolescents who are overweight, it is very important to have popular role models that may encourage young females to stay active. Not only will this benefit their body composition, but it will also lead to the development of healthy bones. The list of professional female sports is growing, and currently consists of golf, soccer, tennis, basketball, figure skating, bowling, and others, while professional football and hockey can not far behind. Young women also now list a female as their favorite professional athlete.

The list of individual female athletes is growing and these athletes are as popular for apparel companies as are male athletes. Athletes such as Venus and Serena Williams and Mia Hamm are household names. Title IX has opened up many new leadership skill development opportunities for women. As a website that truly believes sport leads to many benefits that transfer into life outside of sports, such as business, family, etc., grrlAthlete supports the opportunities that have resulted from Title IX.

Is Title IX perfect?
There are critics of Title IX and some female teams still struggle financially. However, it could be much worse without Title IX. Critics suggest that Title IX needs to be updated to address the individual needs of schools. While you can never make everyone happy, we hope that Title IX will be used to improve sport participation for everyone that wants to play.

Other Benefits of Title IX
Clearly, more girls playing high school, university, and professional sports are key benefits of Title IX. However, there are other very important benefits such as the creation of more jobs for women in the industry of sports entertainment. One website that promotes opportunities for females is www.womensportsjobs.com. Employer partners include major sport networks, equipment manufacturers, several major sporting venues in the USA, and many more . . .

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An Interview with the University of Guelph Women's Hockey Coaching Staff

Greg Leatherland and Chuck Wight are the coaches of the University of Guelph's women's hockey team. Greg began his coaching career at the university level in 1996. In 1997, Greg's second year of coaching, the Gryphons won the OUA championship in double overtime to advance to the first ever CIS championships. To date the Gryphons have been to the CIS championships twice, both times finishing 5th in Canada. Chuck is the current head coach of the Gryphons and technical director for TEC-TAC hockey school. Chuck has been the head coach for team China in 2000-2001 and the assistant coach of Iowa State university men's hockey team in 1999-2000. Chuck got involved in Coaching through working at Hockey schools from the age of 16. When he played in France he realized how challenging coaching was and was hooked.

GA: How has the game changed in the past ten years (if at all) for girls?

Greg: The organization of women's hockey has seen the largest change in that there are now organized leagues just for female players, whereas before if they wanted to play, they were required to play on the local male team, or travel large distances to play with an organized female team. The leagues are getting more respect in that the allocation of ice time (which is a scarce resource) is more devoted to female leagues. In the last few years the coaching (knowledge and experience) is becoming much better which is translating into better players. With the growth of women's hockey, there are now more opportunities for coaches to be involved with the sport. With the mandate from the CHA that in order to be allowed to coach at certain levels of minor hockey (both male and female), a potential coach must have completed minimum levels of coaching clinics, and obtained certain amounts of experience. This has brought a much more organized, educated, and experienced coach into minor hockey. Now instead of "dad" coaching the team, the coach must be certified (which could still be "dad"), but now there is an element of formal training involved.

Chuck: I have seen a huge change in the past 5 years even. The Nagano Olympics influenced an increase in participation in girl's hockey that was unheard of. That bubble of younger athletes has increased the level of competition and furthered the game. When Women's hockey was announced as an Olympic sport in 1994 the popularity started to grow and those athletes are now playing at all levels. This has translated into the production of a higher-level athlete who is developed in stronger depth of competition.

GA: Can you let us know a bit about in season and off-season training programs, and things that you think are most important to focus on?

Greg: Our off-season is broken down into 3 main parts.

• Part 1 - weight training/conditioning; basically a light program to have the muscles get used to the heavy training that will follow in the next phase. Usually 3 sets of 12-15 reps on all muscle groups, and light conditioning of running and biking. This phase is approx. 2-3 weeks.
• Part 2 - Heavy weight training and hard conditioning; 3-4 sets of 6-8 reps to increase overall strength on all muscle groups. Hard conditioning days of sprints, and explosive power exercises. Also in this part is a concentration of exercises on core strength - sit-ups, medicine ball, twists etc. This phase is approx. 6-8 weeks
• Part 3 - Maintenance weight training and conditioning. 3 sets of 10 reps on all muscle groups to maintain the strength that was gained during the Fitness-Exercise-Nutrition phase. Conditioning consists of lower intensity explosive power exercises, some biking and running. Continue with the core strength exercises but just to maintain what has been achieved in Fitness-Exercise-Nutrition phase. Phase is approx. 2-3 weeks, and this phase is timed so that it ends just as training camp or the formal season begins.

Chuck: As for what to focus on, each player is individually tested, and evaluated. It usually is a case of not having the upper body strength, and we have the player focus on that area. If it is a skating or quickness issue, we have them focus on explosive power exercises (box jumps, step-ups). We have a post-season rest and rehab that will last up to 6 weeks before our off-season starts. We also have a playoff season that lasts 2-3 weeks. It involves a peak and taper. We increase the intensity of our on ice workload and the mental intensity. At the peak, 10 days prior to playoffs, we decrease the workload but keep the mental intensity at a maximum. We give two full days off prior to competition so the body is at its peak. All athletes are asked to maintain the highest quality nutritional regimen possible during the playoff phase.

GA: Are there any considerations girls need to make when training for hockey compared to guys?

Chuck: The most obvious difference is the upper body strength that tends to come to males easier. We focus on upper body strength, endurance, and wrist strength. The biggest consideration is how the female body is designed in relation to skating. The inner Quad muscle (vastus medialis) does not get developed like a male due to the pelvis alignment. This causes a lot of knee and hip flexor problems for female hockey players. A girl's hips are wider than their knees causing the femur to slant in on an angle to the knee. In contrast, a male's femur is more vertical with the knee directly below the hip. Our off ice training uses specific exercises to develop the vastus medialis. This season we have already seen a decrease in hip flexor problems with our returning players. Team Captain Rachel Harrison researched this last year and applied her findings to our off-ice training.

GA: What coaching and or training strategies have you noticed your players benefit the most from?

Chuck & Greg: There have been a number of strategies that we've implemented at Guelph with positive results. Strength training programs have had the largest impact. Once a player has had the opportunity to go through an off-season on our program the results are quite noticeable. Their ability to fend off checks and shoot the puck is the most noticeable. Another major impact is fitting players with the proper equipment, i.e. hockey sticks. Most stick manufacturers devote their efforts to male players, making stronger, heavier sticks. What we've found is that these sticks are just too stiff, the shafts are too thick, and they don't have the proper lie (the angle of the shaft and the blade) for female players. They don't get the proper flex when passing or shooting, the shaft is too large for smaller hands, and the lie makes the stick too close to their body. We identify which players need a more flexible stick, or one with a lower lie and "fit" the stick to their strength and skill level. We've found that the players get a much better feel for the puck, and their puck skills (shooting, stickhandling, and passing) are much improved. We've also invested in some parachutes, where the player is required to skate for a timed interval (simulating 1 shift) with a resistance parachute attached to them. We've found this lengthens the skating stride, and the athlete generates more power in order to maintain their speed. When the parachute is removed, the athlete feels like they have "light" feet and their quickness and speed is enhanced. Our off-season training package has given some great results in our testing. Our on-ice attention to sport specific skill training has also benefited us a lot. The use of steel pucks in training and developing upper body strength endurance through power blocks has improved our athletes.

GA: What advice would you give to parents and younger players aspiring to compete at the varsity level?

Chuck & Greg: The biggest advantage that a player can have going into their first year is to be prepared physically. Get onto a training program that is designed to increase strength, and quickness. It's quite noticeable who has and who hasn't been on a program once selection camp has begun. It can be the difference between making the team, or being let go. The next advice is getting the proper equipment. Nothing frustrates me more than having a player show up to training camp using as an example a 110 flex Easton carbon-fiber shaft, or wearing gloves that wouldn't even fit my hands. Get fitted into the right equipment, which includes the right stick for your strength and skill level. The Athlete and their Parents should take the time to make an informed decision about the Varsity program at their preferred school. The key is the education and then the sport. Make sure you make a short list of potential schools and then compare and ask questions. Once you identify the type of education you want then start investigating the coaching situation. Find the right fit for you.

GA: Are there any myths or misconceptions about girl's hockey that you would like to comment on?

Chuck: The intensity of the competition and the speed and physicality of the game are the biggest misconceptions. These girls are excellent athletes.

Greg: There are some misconceptions that it's "not real hockey", or that they don't "compete" at the same intensity level as male players. I'll tell you just the opposite is true. Our players compete as hard or harder as their male counterparts at this level. They devote a considerable amount of time to their sport, and train long hours in the off-season. This is the highest level for most of the players before their careers are over. Other than the Canadian National Team, and a small league called the NWHL, the CIS is the highest level of organized women's hockey in Canada.

GA: Thanks a lot. This has been a very insightful interview, and we are sure that it will only help to increase the interest in female hockey in North American and the world!