When the Canadian Women’s Hockey League was initially established in 2007, nobody quite knew what was in store for its future. For years, there has been no compensation for the players. When the CWHL was started, the players had to pay for basically everything themselves, making it difficult for many women to be successful.
Defenseman and alternate captain for the Calgary Inferno, Jacquie Pierri, knows all about this. Spending her fifth year with the Inferno, she was there during those challenging times for female hockey players.
“My first year we had to pay for the draft, pay for try-outs, pay for sticks, we had to pay for meals on the road and it ended up being quite expensive throughout the season.