New survey finds huge growth of women’s sports in Canada

Women’s sport is experiencing a participation boom – for players and spectators.

The Halifax Tides are less than two months into their first season in the new professional women’s soccer league – the Northern Super League – in a country where women’s and girls’ sports are reaching new highs, according to a new survey released earlier this week.

“I’m not surprised by it. I feel like it’s about time, actually,” said Kiley Norkus, who plays fullback for the Tides.

Norkus said growing up playing the game in California, she and other girls did not lack for opportunity compared to the boys, but she says that changed when she tried to turn pro.

“I had to really grind to find connections,” Norkus said. “It was like, ‘OK, I’m going to take this flight to Spain and hopefully this is a real trial and not like some weird situation,’ when, like, I feel like a lot of men had legit agents.”

A new national survey presented on Wednesday at the espnW Summit Canada in Toronto has found that 60 per cent of Canadians believe perceptions of women’s sport have improved over the past three years.

The data also found that 41 per cent of those polled see women’s sports as a national investment.

Since the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) was founded two years ago, there has been a 45 per cent increase in female hockey registration nationwide.

“Ultimately, the sport is making gains but it’s not just important to make gains. It’s important to gain a foothold,” said Christina Lamey, president of Cape Breton Blizzard female hockey in Cape Breton.

The Blizzard and a number of other female teams in Cape Breton are set to move into the new Home For Women’s Hockey at Cape Breton University, said to be the only arena in the country designated solely for girls’ and women’s hockey.

Despite that success on the local level, Lamey said that it’s time infrastructure catches up to interest levels in female sport.

The new survey suggests structural supports for female sport still lag behind.

Lamey said in many cases worldwide, women have been carving out their own places to play.

“So much of this growth in women’s sport is claiming of public space by women,” she said. “It’s a really large global movement that’s happening, and it’s exciting times.”

At May’s Cabot Trail Relay Race in the Cape Breton Highlands, an all-women’s team with an ironic name – “The Boys” – broke the female team course record for the running team relay by 35 minutes.

At least two female Canadian Olympians took part: Julie-Anne Staehli, who competed in the 5000 meter event at the 2020 Games in Tokyo, and Noelle Montcalm, a 400-meter hurdle competitor at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro along with the 2020 Games.

Race committee chair Grace Mason-Parkinson said it’s a sign of greater interest and competition among women, even in amateur events.

“Since COVID-19 really, every year we’ve had another new all-women’s team apply,” Mason-Parkinson said. “We’re seeing more women around the course. We’re seeing more fun, friendly competition and support for each other.”

Norkus is optimistic young girls who come to their games won’t have the same kinds of struggles for legitimacy she did.

“We have girls in the league, in Calgary and stuff, who just graduated high school and are going pro,” Norkus said. “So that itself is a huge step, because we didn’t really have that growing up.”

Lamey said in recent years – thanks in part to the emergence of the PWHL and construction of the new Home For Women’s Hockey – registration numbers for female hockey in Cape Breton have grown by more than 300 per cent.