The relevance of women’s hockey is continuing to rise as female hockey players are officially in the EA SPORTS NHL 22 video game for the first time. This includes international teams and full rosters for gamers to choose from.
Kendall Coyne Schofield, known for being in the fastest skater event at the NHL All-Star Game, explains “A lot of us grew up not seeing role models on a consistent basis. We’d go to NHL games to watch the game but never really saw anyone that looked like us. Unless it’s the Olympics every four years,”. She goes on to describe the impact that being able to play the video game as a woman will have on female athletes growing up. Schofield elaborates on how the inclusion of the female character will not only have a positive impact on women, but on all of society as they will be able to see men and women playing in the same game.
Team Canada captain, Marie-Philip Poulin talked about her perspective in an interview, “Representation matters, and I’m thrilled that every young girl who picks up a controller to play NHL 22 can feel like hockey is a sport for her, too.” Poulin is a major inspiration to young hockey players, especially girls, all around Canada, making this new inclusion such an exciting opportunity. By giving the gamers a choice between a male or female superstar adds a whole new level of excitement to say the least.
It is always a battle for women to be noticed in sports around the world. Adding women’s teams into this video game is a major progression for equality in the representation of females in sports. However, the effort for men and women to be one of the same in hockey needs to continue this way for ultimate satisfaction.
Kaitlyn S
Sport, Not Games ⚽ 