AIHL announces Women in Ice Hockey Summit

Today the Australian Ice Hockey League announced the Inaugural Women in Ice Hockey Summit that will take place on September 2, during the AIHL Finals Weekend.

The Summit, which will include guest speakers from seven different sports including the wildly successful AFLW, netball, and football with also include speakers from the Victorian Institute of Sport, sports psychologists, members of the Australian Womens Ice Hockey Team and the AIHL.

With topics like ‘Creating Opportunities: Advancing Women in Sports Administration’ and ‘Creating Fans: Strategies for Marketing Womens Sport,’ alongside others such as ‘Mental Health in Sport: Wellbeing, Performance & Values’ the event looks set to be wildly useful for players, coaches, team personnel alike.

The event will include talks on growing the game and mental health as well as guest speakers from The AFL, Matildas and the AUSWNT

— Alyssa (@alyssastweeting) August 7, 2017

The League isn’t afraid of shying away from the hard topics either looking to learn from existing Major female sports in Australia with Tal Karp (ex Olympian and Matilda) and Jan Cooper (Manager of Women’s Football Development for the AFL) both expected to speak about the struggles of growing the game.

The event will be headed up by AIHL commissioner and two-time Canadian Olympican Nikki Dryden.

While the event is free, its also invitation only, with emphasis being placed on delegates of the Australian Women’s Ice Hockey League teams, officials and players due to a limited capacity.

Having an event like this occurring annually could mean massive things for a small minority sport in the wider Australian sporting landscape.  The event also shows a huge commitment from the AIHL to supporting the women's game as well, sinking time and resources into the event  in what is hopefully the start of a greater partnership between the AIHL and the AWIHL.