girls playing down......

[kovalchuk71 212]

i know this is around me, and i think its everywhere, but do u think its fair that women can play down an age group? i kno there is a womens division in such tourneys as NARCH and TORHS, but there are girls (12-14) by me that can play in the next lower age group (EX:12 year old playing in 10&under) and they dominate and they are huge compared to the other kids....im not against women in any way, but shouldnt they have to play in the same age division their age applies to?

[Chadd 916]

The funny thing is girls are more physically mature at that age than the boys are.

[kovalchuk71 212]

yah, they get taller first, but wut im saying is that girls are just as good as guys in hockey and they should have to play in their correct age group and not down...

[crosskore 0]

I agree. If they play in a boys league, they should play in the right age group. If they dont want to play against the boys in that age group, try joining a girls league. I dont think its fair at all to allow them to play in a lower age group. I wish I could play in a lower age group, I would dominate.

[kovalchuk71 212]

exactly, i would love to play lower, tho u wuoldnt get any better

[Flyerguy91 0]

i think its wrong if they are good for that age group, but if they are still bad it is a reasonable idea.

P.S. it's also y

[SharpShooter 0]

Flyer that is why the exception was made was so they could compete, but anyone who plays travel knows that is not how it is in practice. More often than not it is an exceptional girl that (your all right) develops physically faster than boys and is a very good player. Women want equal rights in life but as young adults you are getting your first taste of how it really works. You all should realize that what yall are saying will get you to be labeled a chavaunistic male. That is just how it is for now, only people who stand up to be counted or voice thier opinions can change it. Good luck to all you fellas because you will soon learn girls also have an ability to control men, it is in thier DNA and they were born with it. I know my Daughter was able to do this to me at a very early age! LOL!

[thejackal 46]

Yup, it's time to speak out against the injustice and voice our concern. MEN HAVE RIGHTS TOO!!

[Eazy_b97 1]

I have no problems with women playing down an age if

A] there's an open spot

B] They cannot compete at their age (I'm for male/females playing where they can compete)

If they are playing down to dominate, they are choosing not to play in the womens league for poor reasons and/or they are taking a boys spot I disagree.

[thejackal 46]

I agree wiht Easy, also, I dont mind if they have a D cup (like this chikc on my team). :D

[crosskore 0]

WHat if theres a boy who is just as bad, if not, worse then the girl who gets to play down? Can he play down? Iam sure you've all seen the guy who uses electrical tape for shin tape and skates on his ankles, Cant stand up straight and doesnt know a thing about hockey. Why cant he play down?

[Eazy_b97 1]

Depends on the league. I have seen them able to play down, and other times they won't let the weaker boy play down because of embarassment from friends within the league. I think thats fair, you should play on a level where you can compete and have fun. Obviously this goes out the window for travel teams where it should be mandatory to play at your age.

[MDE3 0]

Unfortuneately I think we are ranting against the wrong people here....If a girl is an exceptional player even for her age group, and not considering gender, she probably wants to play at the most competitive level available....just as boys who are more advanced than their peer group wish to play "up". It is much more likely that the exceptional talent whether girl or boy will want a challenge..it's part of the competitive nature that makes the player good to begin with....

Who then should be to blame for the inequities in the rules? Perhaps it is the parents who should be blamed for taking unfair advantage...not the girls...More likely some ambitious coach or parent has seen the opportunity, and is angling for advantage.....as happens so often in all of kid's sports.

I think that if a girl has "made" a "non gender specific" travel team of any kind in her own age group, then she must continue to play in this age group whether on a girl's team or "gender open" team for the balance of the season at the travel level. Conversely once she decided to "play down" she would be limited to doing so for the balance of the season as well. That would be a self policing rule for the reasons stated above, as it would limit the development of a competitive player who knew they could only play against weaker talent once they started to do so, thereby limiting their own development.

Unfortuneately this rule was really intended for "in house" leagues to help maintain parity and improve the balance of the competition so that players could still feel that they were competitive. In fact in many "house leagues" weaker boys also were allowed to play down also, if there was only one level. In some rinks there was "rec hockey" and "competitive hockey". The weaker players developed regardless of age in the rec league, and the more advanced players in the competitive league. The "girls can play down" rule was largely intended to help rinks maintain some team balance at the developmental level, but once it was established without some restrictions for travel play, it became an opportunity for some to take advantage.

[hocckey77 0]

I thought in America girls had to play the same age as boys(i.e. 12y/o girl plays peewee boys).My sister plays girls but 1 spring ago she played w/ boys and she had to play peewee because she was 11.I think USA hockey changed the rule 2 years ago regarding girls playing down.

And girls teams that play in boys leagues play same age(14u girls play bantam)but no check.

[MDE3 0]

I do not believe it has changed in inline hockey as yet

[kovalchuk71 212]

MDE3, i see what your saying, but not all girls are mature enough to make the choice of taking the challenge....some just want to totally dominate near me. So they take advantage of it..... and thats not fair

[hocckey77 0]

I don't play inline so i wouldn't know but i know they did it for ice.

[kosydar 0]

I've never heard of anything like this happening before, but I think I'd be pissed. I've played with girls off and on my whole life. And it seems that every time they were on my team, they were already subjected to special treatment as it is. This kind of stuff may be different for you guys, but the girls I've played/against have gotten things way easier. If they're a skater, theres no doubt that the refs are more protective of them and are harsher on calls against hits on them. If they're a goalie, you can't even get close to them in the crease without it being blown down. Hell, I've had a parent confront my entire team in the lobby because we were playing to physical against his daughter, and the refs walked right by and didn't say anything. Her coaches were standing right behind the parent allowing it to happen. From my own personal teams, whenever there is a girl, they don't want to have a separate locker room. That means that we cannot start to get undressed after a game until after she is done and out of the locker room, usually 20 minutes after the game. We can't joke around because we might be offending the girl or "sexually harrassing" her. When it comes to the physical aspect, with fitness training, we had to be able to do 60 pushups 70 sit ups in a minute and run a 15:50 2 mile. Not hard, except that the girls had to do 35 pushups and 50 situps and run a 18:20 2 mile. So you girls/sensitive guys might think that I'm sexist or whatever, but I'm not. I just have a grudge against playing with girls. It isn't necessarily the girl's fault, its the coaches, refs, parents, ect. If some older chick wanted to play on my team because we thought she'd fit in better (and truthfully, if she was hot I wouldn't care as much...I'm honest about this), I'd be pissed. Not saying its a man's or a boy's game, but the women and girls who play should have to play by the same rules and live up to the same expectations as the males.

[Edge 0]

Kosydar, i agree w/ you in every way.

[crosskore 0]

Girls want to be treated as equals, but yet, they want to have special privlages that allow them to do things such as "drop down" in hockey. I dont understand that.

[KC83 2]

haha, well i've had a girl on our roller hockey team... she is treated exactly like the guys.. it kinda helps that she is the biggest player on our team (goalie) on her skates she is about 6'3. She gets changed with us.. and she gets hit like a normal goalie would, our ref's i think are more against her.. cause they don't call things when players come close to the crease.... but she dosn't mind.. if someone even comes close to being dirty she'll chop em...

[JR Boucicaut 3803]

I wouldn't go as far as to categorize all women players like that, however, here's what I've experienced...

There are SOME who feel that since they are a woman, they are subject to different rules when they're on the ice. I played once against a woman and she cup-checked me. As I stepped up to her, she said "You're not going to hit a woman, are you?"

So...on the next shift...

I skate up and she's playing back...I shoot it at her head.

[crosskore 0]

cup-checked? Whats that?

[kosydar 0]

Hitting his junk with her stick. I'm so sick of cup checking. Next person who does it to me, male or female gets a shot in their face.

[MDE3 0]

I sympathize with the players who see girls who "abuse the privlege", although the one girl/player whom I have known the longest would probably be the first to "drop em" in an altercation, and asks for no quarter as a female. In that she may be the exception. When she played at 10U travel with my son, she did not have the option of "playing down" nor did she need to as she was one of the better 2-3 skaters on the team, and played excellent defence.

When any player (male or female) thinks they can take "cheap shots" of any kind, usually because they have some errant vision that "that's how it's done in "real hockey"", then they should be subject to the same "sanctions" that traditional "real hockey" has avowed...."be prepared to drop em", or keep your head up......

It's the "cheap shots" that go unpunished by the refs, that invariable lead to dangerous retaliation somewhere down the road, so if girls or women playing the sport like to use their gender to hide behind, or if the ref's want to turn a blind eye...what will happen is most likely that the male players who feel that they cannot "take care of business" will leave the team or league in frustration and go find a different place to play, or risk being accused of being a bully. While this is not a very satisfying solution for those individuals, it usually get's the point across, eventually leading to some changes.

At an elite level I cannot see this happening much, as it takes pretty exceptional talent to compete there, and I know of only one girl who was able to do so(through Midget AA)....and she made the womans version of Team USA. The politics are such at these levels, that only a girl whose play was a clear asset to the team would ever be allowed to play.... whatever the official rules might call for.

I heartily agree that age/skill/treatment parity should always be observed, other than at a developmental level, where the primary reason for playing the sport is declared as instructional/developmental. Any time an unfair advantage is percieved in a sport, it usually leads to corrective action of some kind, inside or outside the rules.