<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t7:18<\/time>International Women\u2019s Day: The upwards trajectory of Canadian women\u2019s sports<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>
Advocates like Ainka Jess say it\u2019s also what it means for Canadian women and girls.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you happen to can see it, you then can dream it,\u201d said Jess, the founding father of She\u2019s4Sports. \u201cI believe for a lot of children that come from different communities and different backgrounds, they\u2019re actually seeing a pathway now and seeing someone that appears like them on the ice and seeing that it\u2019s viable in the event that they wish to play at that skilled level that there might be a pipeline and a pathway.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The PWHL began its run in 2024 and has expanded since its inaugural yr, adding more games played and more teams.<\/p>\n
Following a lot of its players competing within the 2026 Olympics, ticket sales have skyrocketed.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t4:33<\/time>Pivotal 12 months for Women\u2019s Sports<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>
In March, the league told Global News that between Feb. 22 and 28, it saw its largest home venue ticket sales week because it expanded to eight teams in April 2025.<\/p>\n
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As well as, the PWHL\u2019s website traffic was almost \u201csix times higher\u201d throughout the Olympic period compared with a typical non-PWHL game period. YouTube video views also \u201cincreased 200 per cent over the Olympic period.\u201d<\/p>\n
Three of its first 4 games in its Canadian markets post-Olympics also witnessed sold-out crowds.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\tMore on Canada<\/button>More videos<\/button>\n\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nThe Ontario Women\u2019s Hockey Association says that boost, coupled with an all-Canadian final, could lead on to further investment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’d like to get more sponsors on and we guarantee every major sponsor that comes into the ladies\u2019s game, you\u2019re going to get them greater than you expected because there\u2019s a fantastic loyalty and it’s such a values-based sport,\u201d said Fran Rider, president and CEO of the OWHA.<\/p>\n
That loyalty and the values behind the PWHL may also create a \u201crealistic dream\u201d for ladies and a strategy to feel proud about playing the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cA young, six-year-old girl can go to highschool now and say, \u2018I play on a girls hockey team,\u2019 and she will say that with confidence, with strength and equality,\u201d Rider added.<\/p>\n
Three more teams were announced this past week as a part of the league\u2019s expansion, including one other Canadian team in Hamilton.<\/p>\n
A reputation has not been revealed, but games might be played out of the TD Coliseum, which might seat as much as 19,000 fans.<\/p>\n
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Expansions mean more spots for ladies to play, Jess said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce you discuss expansion across any league, that just means more roster spots, means more opportunities for our Canadian women who’re, , going through that pipeline to wanting to play pro, could potentially have the chance to play skilled,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She added it\u2019s not only players, though. There are opportunities across sport, from playing and training to working within the front office or in players\u2019 health.<\/p>\n
With a puck drop set for Thursday at 7 p.m. for Game 1 of the Walter Cup final, Ottawa Charge captain Brianne Jenner says she hopes it gives women and girls inspiration and a fantastic game to look at.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe there\u2019s going to be lots of young girls which are watching these playoffs that might be inspired for years to come back and, , in consequence, dream of playing within the PWHL,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\n\t\t© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s an all-Canadian final for the Skilled Women\u2019s Hockey League (PWHL) and players and advocates for more women in sport say it could have a long-lasting impression. The Montreal Victoire solidified the Walter Cup coming to Canada after their victory on Tuesday night against the two-time defending champions, the Minnesota Frost. They\u2019ll face off against […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":334741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[338],"tags":[6696,5607,51718,474,1499,2694,2352,51717,1079],"class_list":["post-334740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-1st","tag-advocates","tag-allcanadian","tag-boost","tag-final","tag-girls","tag-participation","tag-pwhls","tag-sport"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334740"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":334743,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334740\/revisions\/334743"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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