Ontario Women's Hockey Association offers to host U18 Women's Championship after IIHF's cancellation
Following the disappointing news that the IIHF was cancelling all tournaments scheduled for January 2022 due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19, there may be some hope for the young women who have had an event cancelled for the second-straight year.
On Friday, the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association extended a helping hand via Twitter, offering to host the U18 Women’s World Championships.
OWHA would be pleased to step up to host the U18 Women's World Championship to ensure the players are supported. We commit to working with @IIHFHockey @HockeyCanada and Federations on timing and safety. https://t.co/nn9J6EIrHO
— Ontario Womens Hockey (@OWHAhockey) December 25, 2021
After the vocal disappointment that came with the cancellations, many online are now hopeful again that the women’s tournament can still go on.
👏👏👏👏@OWHAhockey with the big step up! https://t.co/xiuWumErP0
— Natalie Spooner (@natspooner5) December 25, 2021
Hopeful to hear! We have a Solution @IIHFHockey ! Let’s start planning and offer our best -18 female athletes a competition they have earned to play in! https://t.co/Hsd62RbT2P
— Caroline Ouellette (@couellette13) December 25, 2021
The upcoming tournament was scheduled to take place on Jan. 8-15 in Sweden. The 2021 event, slated to take place in the same host cities of Linkoping and Mjolby, was also cancelled due to risks posed by the pandemic.
The Men’s World Junior Championships, beginning on Boxing Day, was spared from the wave of cancellations and will go on as planned, a decision that has drawn considerable criticism online.
So, while the world junior championships start the pre-competition games today....The women's U18 world championships get cancelled?
🤔— Hailey Salvian (@hailey_salvian) December 24, 2021
It is unacceptable for @IIHFHockey to cancel the 2022 U18 Women’s World Championships for 2nd straight year, while keeping the men’s events scheduled.
This continues to widen the gender gap between women’s & men’s sports.
Please retweet! #Equality https://t.co/oprARTBAr9 https://t.co/ApIEcBJBkS— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) December 24, 2021
Ontario last hosted the women’s tournament in St. Catharine’s in 2016.
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