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The Queens take over Soul on Ice!
After I watched the Soul on Ice documentary, I immediately thought one thing:
“Why didn’t we hear from Angela James?”
I tracked down the director, Kwame Mason, and asked him. I have asked about that every year since. He’s promised there is more coming about Black women in hockey.
This week, he dropped a show hosted by The Queen: Blake Bolden, Sarah Nurse, Kelsey Koelzer, Saroya Tinker, and THE Angela James.
The show was scripted (and from what it sounds like, by Kwame), but it was the second time The Queen joined the Soul on Ice Podcast (now an NHL property). It was a breath of fresh air to hear nothing but Black women on a hockey podcast.
Invitation to speak about Black women, with Black women, and too Black women are few and far between unless I create the spaces myself, which I absolutely have. The unfortunate truth is, some of my early conversations with Black women in hockey didn’t get the attention they deserved.
Why?
There are many reasons, such as me being a new journalist. Others are harder to accept, such as the truth that society seldom sees what isn’t validated or discovered by men. It is inevitable that men will interview women and vice versa. I’m not asking for that to change.
What I would like to see shift is men more often open the air waves and cut their own mics. First person accounts are extremely important, especially for players, coaches, and executives that represent one or more marginalized groups.
And let’s be clear, these groups are marginalized because society strong arms them to the fringes of our culture and society. Women and Black athletes have always been in sports and journalism. It’s been the money, power, and bigotry of white men that has spun and perpetuated alternative narrative.
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This Week in Women’s Hockey
DO YOU BELIEVE IN MORE COVERAGE FOR WOMEN IN SPORTS? Good, click these links and show decision-makers that if you post it, we will read it! If you have any hot tips for great stories or voices you’d like to see in The IX, email me: erica@ericaLayala.com.
Must-Click Links
Listen to the latest episode of Soul on Ice and here is the last time The Queens including Kianna Scott were on SOI Podcast.
A few details had me scratching my head, but overall an interesting take on why WoHo doesn’t need the NHL.
Toronto Maple Leafs enter a partnership with the PWHPA.
PWHPA believes recent NHL partnership show a pathway to a unified league.
Mini post: The visibility the event at MSG and announcement of marketing support from the Leafs will bring is great! However, I remain skeptical, we’ve seen the CWHL & NWHL play on NHL ice to no avail. Similarly to the NWHL/NHL cutouts, they are something, but hardly point to the viability players are asking for. Will it become more? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
A Toronto Star reader (Julia Davis) makes the case for more women’s hockey coverage.
On Sunday, Saroya Tinker joins Tara Slone on Top of her Game.
Black women in NCAA hockey triples from 2019, here’s the article. Video below:
I had the honor of talking to Doxie McCoy – a founding member of the BC women’s hockey program – a few years back. So glad she’s getting her flowers.
Natalie Darwitz joins Toni Stone (okay, not hockey but it’s Black History Month and this is my newsletter edition) honored by the Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame.
Trainer Tim Murray discusses his time in the #NDubble.
Just a few legends chatting it up! Congrats Monique & Jocelyne!
Tweet of the Week
Five at The IX: Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson & Monique Lamoureux-Morando
I pulled a few quotes from the USA Hockey live stream including The Lam Twins, Angela Ruggiero, and Jackie Joyner-Kersee (!!!). You can listen & watch the full retirement announcement by clicking here.
Rachel Blount: During your time with the team, how much progress you feel was made in terms of the game giving opportunities and respect and resources to women. And how would you like to see that continue in the future?
Jocelyne: I think it as we look at our career in its entirety. From a grassroots level up, we didn’t have an opportunity to play on girls teams growing up. And I would say in 2010, everybody but one player on our team had a play on boys team growing up.
In 2017, we made great changes with USA Hockey League and Monique and I benefited from the maternity benefits that were in our contract and I think that’s the next step is continuing to support the national teams. The women’s national teams through the new 22 teams and continuing to grow women’s hockey from the top down in the bottom up, and those opportunities have changed throughout our career, and we’re looking forward to continuing to be a part of that process and to create more opportunities for young girls in the future.
Monique: just to piggyback off that too when you look at the national team when we started out I think almost, it might have been just under half the players were still in college and now you look at the makeup of the national team and the average age is becoming older. But I think that goes to speak to the competitive, the competitiveness and there’s the tip of the spear. Players are getting better players are playing longer, which I think means … there’s been immense change and immense growth and hopefully continues to trend in that direction.
Erica L. Ayala: I would like to ask you two questions that are likely inevitable once you announced your retirement. But the first is, what are you looking forward to doing now that you won’t have so much time dedicated specifically to hockey and training? And then the other question is, how would you like your sister to be remembered in her time with USA Hockey?
Monique: I’m actually due with our second son in just over five weeks … and then our book is actually coming out in two weeks from today, Dare to Make History … so hopefully that’ll keep us busy for a little while …
For Jocelyne as a hockey player, I think she … has one of the most underrated skill sets as a forward that I’ve seen in my time on the National (Team). But I think more importantly on her leadership, when I think of everything that we went through in 2015 to 2017, I mean we joke about it but she was the one that ultimately made the call and really got the ball rolling when all that started and she’s never afraid to have a tough conversation.S he never afriad to do that things that might stand out or …
Jocelyne: … might get me in trouble (laughs)!
Monique: She always learned became better from from everything that we went through so extremely, extremely proud of her.
Jocelyne: Monique might be one of the only players in the world ever to, to be named on the All-Star team and in a world championship both as a as a D and a forward. I don’t know if any players ever done that before … I think back to our colleges, she played half her career as a forward and a half as a D and it would switch mid-weekend series … that’s not easy I mean some forwards can’t go from right wing or left wing or center to center it away and we can pretty much do it all except center …
Monique: I don’t know why center was always tough for me (rolls her eyes).
Jocelyne: I think that’s obviously a testament to her leadership as well and the type of teammate she is. I think it’s it’s impressive and (Dave) Fish(er), you should check me on that.