Blog Post #3

Growing up playing boys hockey was always a struggle. From a young age, I was “accepted” onto the team, but truly was never fully appreciated for my skills or abilities. Being on the only female on the team is a challenge. From a young age, I was clumped together with 20 other boys in my town and surrounding towns to make a hockey team. Being the only girl on some of my teams wasn’t always the easiest. I had to learn how to stand my own ground from the start to prove that I was capable of playing on the team. Not only did I have to prove myself, but I had to became one of the “boys”. It was always the easiest trying to fit in with the boys when I was younger. They had the idea that all girls were gross and didn’t know anything about sports, so proving to them that I did wasn’t always the easiest. I specifically remember one occasion where one boy thought he should be on the ice over me because I was a girl. I can tell you the coach didn’t like that very much, and made it very clear that I was on the ice over him because of my skill, and not anything else. This was the first time my gender came clear to me. Looking back now it was hard to be that girl on the team that was better than some boys. They tend to not like when girls are better than them, so proving to them that I was just another player on the team trying my best to fit in, and do my part came as a struggle.

On the other hand, playing on a male hockey was also a blessing. The boys I played with when I was as young as 3 are still my friends today. I am the girl that is known as “one of the boys” in Balcarres. I am so grateful for the friends I made well playing the sport I love, I was everyone little sister on the team, and if anyone hurt me they were in trouble. As a child, I wasn’t in dance or, the “girly” sports so creating those relationships with the boys were very important. There was always that one boy that had the snarky comment about how I was playing basketball at recess with the boys, or how I was sitting with all the boys at lunch, but these were my best friends and teammates. The teammates I grew up with made me forget about gender. I was just their friend. It didn’t matter if I was wearing pink or, had a crush on one of them; they still excepted me into their group. I do believe gender plays a role in how you are treated to some extent, but I think that has to do with how you portray your gender. If I went onto the team thinking I was the greatest, and no one could do better than me because I was a girl; then maybe I wouldn’t have made so many great relationships. I believe some women are too quick to think they are being judge by their gender, and not just by their attitudes. I have been on both sides of the spectrum and I do not think anyone should feel the way I felt as a 8 year old getting discriminated against because of my gender.