U Sports women's ice hockey is the highest level of play ofwomen's ice hockey at theuniversity level under the auspices ofU Sports, Canada's governing body for university sports. Women's ice hockey has been played in U Sports since the 1997-98 season, when the governing body was known as the Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union, following a long stint of teams only competing in theOUA. There are 35 teams, all of which are based in Canada, that are divided into four conferences that are eligible to compete for the year-end championship. As these players compete at the university level, they are obligated to follow the rule of standard eligibility of five years.
Starting in 1900, male spectators were authorized to assist in women's matches in most of the Canadian provinces and some university teams. During this time, there was no university women's league and some university women's teams competed against rivals representing cities. Sometimes, they were forced to cross big geographical distances by train in order to participate in tournaments[3]
Queen's University women's ice hockey team in 1917
The first provincial women's championship took place in 1914 inPicton, Ontario. Six teams participated in the event, including the University of Toronto.[4] In 1921, the University of Toronto bested McGill University during the first Canadian women's university championship. TheToronto Lady Blues would gain 11 championship titles, compared with two titles for theQueen's Golden Gaels before the women's university league dissolved in 1933[5] During this time period, Elizabeth Graham, a Queen's Universitygoaltender, carried a fencing mask during matches in 1927.[1] She would be the first goaltender in ice hockey, before the famousJacques Plante, to carry a protective face mask.[6]
On December 16, 1922, theLadies Ontario Hockey Association (LOHA) was formed, and included severalOntario university teams[7] In 1923, theWomen's Intercollegiate Athletic Union (WIAU) is created with the aim of offering sporting events to students in Ontario. The WIAU coordinated the programs of the students,[8] and several university women's teams were members there.[8] In the autumn of 1923, theCanadian Amateur Hockey Association held its annual meeting inPort Arthur, Ontario. It was here that the association decided not to give to the women official recognition as hockey players.[9] From 1931 until 1941, the non-university teamPreston Rivulettes were unbeaten in the LOHA and won ten consecutive championships.[10] Numerous university women's teams are reluctant to join the LOHA because they estimated that they would be unable to compete against the Rivulettes. Due to theGreat Depression, several university women's teams were dissolved. Consequently, ice hockey teams became rarer for numerous women's teams.[11]
In 1941, the LOHA was dissolved and, in the aftermath, several teams begin to disappear. TheSecond World War also affected the level of participation in women's ice hockey in Canada. From 1936 to 1948, and from 1951 to 1960, there was no WIAU official women's competition.[12] Women’s ice hockey would not return until the 1960s at the Canadian university level.[13]
McGill Martlets against St. Francis-Xavier X-Women
The revival in the 1960s resulted in the creation of new women's teams in several Canadian universities.[14] In 1969, theCanada West Universities Athletic Association, with a mission to organize championships in multiple sports for women university students in Western Canada, presented a proposal which eventually led to the creation of theCanadian Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Union (CWIAU). The first recognized national women's championship was involleyball, presented in March, 1970 at theUniversity of Waterloo.[8][15] While the CWIAU had been created, university women's ice hockey was still not prevalent outside Ontario, where the Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Union (WIAU) merged with the Ontario-Quebec University Athletic Association (OQUAA) to form theOntario Women's Interuniversity Athletic Association (OWIAA) in 1971.[8][15] This resulted in university women's teams multiplying and several American university tournaments inviting Canadian teams.[16] Regional women's university ice hockey championships began to grow elsewhere in Canada, and in March 1998, the first Canadian national university championship in women’s ice hockey took place. TheConcordia Stingers, inMontreal, hosted the event and won the first U Sports championship.
U Sports encourages competition with a sense of fair-play
In the U Sports regular season, 36 teams play between 20 and 28 matches in their respective regional conferences. At the end of the season, qualifying rounds (in each regional conference) determine the champion team in each of the four Canadian regions. Afterwards, a national tournament takes place consisting of eight teams: the winning team in each of the four regional championship conferences; (Atlantic University Sport,Quebec Student Sports Federation (in French,Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec),Ontario University Athletics andCanada West Universities Athletic Association). In addition, the organizing team of the national tournament (the university which hosts the annual event) and the defending champion, as well as the finalist from all four conferences qualify.
As of the 2023–24 season, the Canadian university women's ice hockey competition consisted of four conferences and 35 teams. In recent history, theLethbridge Pronghorns dropped their program following the 2019-20 season.[17] TheBishop's Gaiters program joined the RSEQ conference in 2020–21 while theTrinity Western Spartans andMacEwan Griffins programs became members of the Canada West conference that same year.[18][19] However, following the cancellation of the 2020–21 season, theLaurentian Voyageurs discontinued their women's ice hockey program in 2021.[20]
The U Sports women's ice hockey championship is awarded annually to Canada's women's ice hockey champions at the university level. The championship has been competed for since 1998, when the sport was established in the league. Previously, the most important Canadian university women's ice hockey championship was the one from the Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Union (WIAU) (from 1921 till 1971), along with that of the Ontario Women's Interuniversity Athletic Association (OWIAA) (from 1972 till 1997) which awarded theDr. Judy McCaw trophy to the team champion.
The governing body was known as the Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union (CIAU) when women's hockey was added to its championship roster. The body's name changed to Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) in 2001 and the current U Sports in 2016.
The award honours Marion Hillard, a top player on the University of Toronto Varsity Blues outstanding hockey team which captured six championships from 1922-27. Hillard was President of the University Hockey Club and was a member of the women's Athletic Directorate for four years. The award recognizes excellence in a student-athlete in three areas: hockey, academics and community involvement.[23]
In 2004, the then-CIS began selecting two All-Star teams (first All-Stars and now second All-Stars) and an All-Rookie Team, as well as maintaining the selection of All-Stars Team for the playoffs tournament.
First All-Stars Team
G: Cecilia Anderson, Concordia Stingers
D: Judy Diduck, Alberta Pandas
D: Alison Goodman, Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks
F: Elizabeth Chiasson, Queen's Golden Gaels
F: Danielle Bourgeois, Alberta Pandas
F: Delaney Collins, Alberta Pandas
Second All-Stars Team
G: Lucie Fortin, UBC Thunderbirds
D: Joell Fiddler, Regina Cougars
D: Safiya Muharuma, Toronto Lady Blues
F: Véronique Lapierre, McGill Martlets
F: Lindsay Taylor, Saint Mary's Huskies
F: Dominique Rancour, Concordia Stingers
All-Rookie Team
G: Cecilia Anderson, Concordia Stingers
D: Katie Barrett, St. Francis Xavier X-Women
F: Rebecca Davies, St. Francis Xavier X-Women
Playoffs All Stars
G: Megan Takeda, Ottawa Gee-Gees
D: Judy Diduck, Alberta Pandas
D: Ashley Stephenson, Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks
