"A funny thing happened at the fights the other night, a hockey game broke out.” That’s a common complaint from many who witness their first professional ice hockey game. 

It’s a sport where players are paid millions of dollars to do things they’d be arrested for outside the gladiator-like confines of the ice rink. Those who subscribe to that opinion are probably even more sceptical at the mention of women’s ice hockey.  But, women’s ice hockey is one the fastest growing sports in many countries, including England.

The popularity of women’s ice hockey took off following a decision after the 1990 Women’s World Championship, eliminating body-checking because female players in many countries don’t have the size and mass seen in North American players.

At the time, critics of the decision said it would further diminish the already small fan base for the women’s version of the game. But they don’t understand, you see, women’s hockey is not so much about spectators as it is about playing.

Today, ice hockey is one of the fastest growing women’s sports in the world, with the number of participants increasing 400 percent in the last 10 years. While there are fewer organized women’s leagues than men’s, women’s leagues have been established in such unlikely places as China, Japan, Kazakhstan and even the UK.

Canadian Manon Rheaume appeared as a goaltender for the Tampa Bay Lightening in games against the Boston Bruins and St Louis Blues in the pinnacle of hockey leagues, the NHL.  Countless other women are playing in semi-pro leagues.

“Oh my God, it’s changed so much – sponsorships, uniforms, funding,” says former hockey player Margot Page, commenting on the evolution of women’s hockey since 1990. “I was (playing) in the era of the pink uniform.”

The stereotypical pink uniform, worn as a promotional ploy by Canada’s women at the first women’s world championships, would be unthinkable today, a indication how things have changed.  “It didn’t matter. We were playing – we were just happy to be on the international stage,” says Page, who played for the Canadian Nationals from 1990 to 1994.

Canada and the US lead the way in terms of growth.  Community based sponsorship is essential to the sport’s success. As Chuck Grieve, coach of Coventry Phoenix points out, “There are very few rinks, very expensive ice rental and hopelessly anti-social hours.  We train at 10.45 on a Friday night because it’s the only slot available to us.”

From the spectators’ perspective, aside from the lack of fighting, the absence of body-checking is noticeable, but that is not to say there is no body contact. The main difference between body contact and body-checking is that in the former there is an attempt to play the puck first, in the latter you hit first and play the puck after.

Because there is less emphasis on brute strength and force, the women’s game as evolved into a sport of finesse with emphasis on skating, passing and puck handling.

“It’s a wonderful game to watch,” says Julie Healy, director of female hockey programs with the Canadian Hockey Association. “I think it is the pure form of the game, the way it is meant to be played. It’s really skill-based and it’s very team-oriented. I hate to say, it is a little slower than the guys’ game - but that makes it easier to follow.”

In North America, the sport has become so popular that most colleges and universities have women’s teams and many girls are able to continue their education thanks to lucrative hockey scholarships.

In Canada the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) represents the highest level of play in the world. The league creates an environment that recognizes the world class status of these players in a way that represents them as role models for young athletes.

Most of Canada’s Gold Medal Olympic players are members of the NWHL and the league attracts US national players as well. Many who were quick to dismiss women’s ice hockey a few years ago are having second thoughts. Some say women’s hockey is hockey the way it was meant to be, should be, fast-paced and virtually fight free.

The UK may be a long way from the Olympic podium for women’s ice hockey, but teams have been springing up in the most unlikely places: the Coventry Phoenix, Nottingham Vipers and the Cardiff Comets. One of Coventry’s founders, Suzi Grieve, first laced on her skates at Al Nasr Leisureland in Dubai where father Chuck was coaching. 

Grieve senior sums it up, “Hockey, so far at least, has proven to be a family-friendly environment where what happens on the ice stays on the ice and rival fans repair to the pub to compare notes, talk up the sport and have a sociable time. And long may it continue.”