USA women’s hockey team boycotting World Championships over fair wage dispute

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Pete Blackburn - FOX Sports




The United States women’s hockey team announced on Wednesday morning that they will not participate in the 2017 World Championships due to a dispute with USA Hockey over fair wages.

Negotiations between players and the American program have reportedly been ongoing for about a year, but have stalled recently. Barring any sudden and significant progress in those negotiations this month, the USA won’t be represented at a tournament which they are hosting. (This year’s Worlds is being played in Michigan.)

Members of the women’s team tweeted out uniform statements on Wednesday announcing the boycott and calling for more support.

US WNT will not play in 2017 World Championship due to stalled negotiations over fair wages and support from USA Hockey #BeBoldForChange pic.twitter.com/qEXVyoKE6y

— Hilary Knight (@Hilary_Knight) March 15, 2017

According to a piece from ESPN’s Julie Foudy, the USA’s women’s national team players are only paid $6,000 every four years.

“Out of a four-year cycle, USA Hockey pays for only six months out of an entire four years. They pay us $1,000 per month in those six months. So, for the other 42 months we don’t get paid at all by USA Hockey,” says Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson, a two-time Olympic silver medalist. “It is a full-time job and to not get paid is a financial burden and stress on the players, obviously. That is the conversation my husband and I are having right now. Is playing going to be more stress than we can handle? Sadly it becomes a decision between chasing your dream or giving in to the reality of the financial burden.”

This is obviously a bad look for USA Hockey, but it’s also a major development in the world of women’s hockey. The United States has won gold at each of the last three World Championships and has been in the gold medal game every year since the tournament’s inaugural competition in 1990.

The World Championships will get underway March 31 in Plymouth Township, Michigan.

[Goofy]

Awwww

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Wearing the uniform of your country is a privilege, not something you should hold hostage to try and use to extort money

[Goofy]

I'd pay a lot of money to play for Scotland at any sport!

[Teh One Who Knocks]

And you know, maybe if women's hockey was an actual popular sport, then they would get paid for it. They can't honestly compare themselves to the men's ice hockey team, all of which play in the NHL and are professional athletes. I'm guessing that USA hockey pays the men the same amount ($1,000/month for the 6 months) if they pay the men anything at all, since they have their NHL salaries and don't need the money.

[Muddy]

Suit yourselves, stinky.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Suit yourselves, stinky.

What sucks is though, we (the United States) are hosting the tournament this year. Will look real great if these whores all boycott the tournament and there's no home team even competing.

[Muddy]

They are missing the biggest opportunity of their lives..

[RBP]

What sucks is though, we (the United States) are hosting the tournament this year. Will look real great if these whores all boycott the tournament and there's no home team even competing.

“While USA Hockey is disappointed that players from the Women’s National Team program have said today they do not intend to participate in the upcoming IIHF Women’s World Championship unless their financial demands are met, USA Hockey remains committed to continuing dialogue and will field a competitive team for the upcoming 2017 IIHF Women’s World Championship in Plymouth, Michigan,” USA Hockey said in a statement.

Jim Smith, president of USA Hockey, added that it is not USA Hockey’s role to employ athletes.

“In our role as the national governing body, USA Hockey trains and selects teams for international competition,” said Jim Smith, president of USA Hockey. “USA Hockey’s role is not to employ athletes and we will not do so. USA Hockey will continue to provide world-leading support for our athletes.”

[Teh One Who Knocks]

“While USA Hockey is disappointed that players from the Women’s National Team program have said today they do not intend to participate in the upcoming IIHF Women’s World Championship unless their financial demands are met, USA Hockey remains committed to continuing dialogue and will field a competitive team for the upcoming 2017 IIHF Women’s World Championship in Plymouth, Michigan,” USA Hockey said in a statement.

Jim Smith, president of USA Hockey, added that it is not USA Hockey’s role to employ athletes.

“In our role as the national governing body, USA Hockey trains and selects teams for international competition,” said Jim Smith, president of USA Hockey. “USA Hockey’s role is not to employ athletes and we will not do so. USA Hockey will continue to provide world-leading support for our athletes.”

I hope they do manage to throw a team together. And I don't care if those women lose every single game, at least they will be there for the right reasons and I will be happy and proud to support them.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

The bitches on the US Women's National Team are crying that they don't make enough money from USA Hockey, which exists to help with training for the Olympics and other international tournaments, not as an employer for them. They whine about the men getting all the press and advantages and getting paid plenty (of course the women fail to mention that the men are getting paid their salaries by way of the NHL and that they don't need to be paid by USA Hockey). Well, why don't they go out and prove that women's hockey is just as popular as men's hockey and start a professional league? Oh wait, they did, and it sucks. It's in it's 2nd year of existence, there's only 4 teams in the league, they had to cut salaries this year, and attendance is down from the first year (they draw less than 600 people per game this season (according to the NY Times), down from about 1000 per game last year). Meanwhile, the men's game, which they claim they should be treated as equals with, seems to have no problem staying afloat without demanding money from USA Hockey. The NHL had revenues of $4.1 billion USD for the 2015/16 season. It's obvious people like hockey, just not sub-standard women's hockey.

Where Does The NWHL Go From Here? Story on Deadspin about the women's league. Hearing these bitches whine makes me actually hate them.

[Muddy]

Economics. They don't get it.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

The Colorado Avalanche, by far the worst team in the NHL this season, are still averaging 14,916 people per game this year

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Economics. They don't get it.

[Hugh_Janus]