PWHPA: the Dream Gap Tour leading the way for women’s hockey in North America

Renata Fast, of the Professional Women's Hockey Player's Association, at the Carmen Corbasson Community Centre in Mississauga, Ont., on Sept. 17, 2019.Some of the biggest names in women’s hockey packed into a small dressing room in a suburban Mississauga arena for a late-evening practice this week, including Canadian Olympians Natalie Spooner, Renata Fast and Sarah Nurse.

The players describe this as “a season of action” and “a bridge year.” They are seeking the advice of Billie Jean King and the women who pioneered pay equity in pro tennis four decades ago. Where this bridge actually leads remains foggy, especially because there are still pro players outside this galvanized group, getting ready to suit up in the U.S.-based National Women’s Hockey League.

At the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, the United States ended Canada’s streak of four successive Olympic gold medals. The Minnesota Whitecaps downed the Buffalo Beauts before a sold-out crowd in Minneapolis to hoist the Isobel Cup in the NWHL.Story continues below advertisement One week after awarding its Clarkson Cup, the CWHL sent shock waves through the sport by announcing its closing, citing poor revenues and an unsustainable operational model.The players sitting out paid a membership fee to be part of the PWHPA . To prepare for these showcases and to help the players keep improving, the PWHPA has organized a network of regional training sites for its members in Mississauga, Markham, Ont.

The Dream Gap Tour has announced just five events so far – all in September and October – but hopes for more if they are well attended and make revenue.Many of the coaches and other staff who used to have paid jobs with the CWHL and its teams are now volunteering their time to manage the training spaces. They’re also tasked with trying to put on polished-looking showcases to win over fans and supporters who might want to be involved in a future pro women’s league.

“These hockey players are very smart and passionate, and what impressed us most is that while these players might see some benefit in what they’re trying to do, they’re really doing this for the next generation,” said Ilana Kloss, the principal partner at Billie Jean King Enterprises, also a former pro tennis player and commissioner of World Team Tennis.

Marquee players with their own sponsorship deals asked those companies to pitch in to help the larger cause, too.The PWHPA has drawn an impressive group of big-name corporate sponsors, and many of them are helping foot the bill for the showcases and training, such as Unifor , the Toronto Maple Leafs, U.S.-based coffee-and-doughnut chain Dunkin and the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association.

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