Sunday, February 7, 2016

Checking in Hockey

I am not a football fan. It's not that I'm against the sport or anything, I've just never gotten into watching it. Instead, I chose to write about hockey, a sport that I watch more often. Hockey is considered a high-speed collision sport, which means that there is contact between players and other objects (such as boards, pucks, or sticks). I wanted to look for an article or study that focused on the differences between women's and men's hockey. The one that I found and chose to use focused on checking, which is a contact between players where one uses their body to remove the opponents possession of the puck. Checking is known as the primary cause of injury for the sport. The study mentions how in women's hockey, checking isn't even allowed yet for the men its taught from age 9 at the youngest. It also mentioned how many girls also learn checking when they are young from participating on a team with boys. As children, boys and girls are often combined in a youth team, since they are mostly equivalent in size and skill. If a girl is involved in a boys league, such as in high school or younger, checking is normal and expected from them. A concern with this is that girls who are not taught checking skills, won't be prepared to absorb the contact if it happens.
The article does not mention why checking is not allowed or taught for girl's and women's hockey. I can understand that if they are not taught, it shouldn't be allowed, since further injuries could occur. What I don't understand is why all girls aren't taught the skills of checking. If they were, then they would be prepared for if they play with boys at any point in their lives and it wouldn't be an problem in women's hockey either. In my opinion, checking should either be allowed in both or neither. I also believe that women and men should be allowed to play on the teams together, as long as they play with similar skill levels and bodies. There are women on hockey teams who are the taller and weigh similarly to some of the men on hockey teams, but this is a different issue. Overall, I believe that the rules on checking should be the same throughout the entire sport.

Regina LaPietra

1 comment:

  1. I just wanted to make it clear that the party for the game that I am referring to is the rules of the game (or those who make them). I believe that you can't have a game without some sort of set rules.

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