Canadian Interuniversity Sport Women's Ice Hockey - History

History

The 1890s marked the beginning of the first women's ice hockey teams in Canadian universities. These universities included the University of Toronto in Toronto, Queen's University in Kingston, and McGill University in Montreal. In 1908, other schools such as the Calgary Collegiate Institute and Mount Royal University began to ice competitive teams as well. In the early years, teams played behind closed doors and men were not authorized to attend the matches. The referee was the only man present during the matches. 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

The first provincial women's championship took place in 1914 in Picton, Ontario. Six teams participated in the event, including the University of Toronto. In 1921, the University of Toronto bested McGill University during the first Canadian women's university championship. The Toronto Lady Blues would gain 11 championship titles, compared with two titles for the Queen's Golden Gaels before the women's university league dissolved in 1933 During this time period, Elizabeth Graham, a Queen's University goalkeeper, carried a fencing mask during matches in 1927. She would be the first goalkeeper in hockey, before the famous Jacques Plante, to carry a protective face mask.

On December 16, 1922, the Ladies Ontario Hockey Association (LOHA) was formed, and included several Ontario university teams In 1923, the Women'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, and several university women's teams were members there. In the autumn of 1923, the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association held its annual meeting in Port Arthur, Ontario. It was here that the association decided not to give to the women official recognition as hockey players. From 1931 until 1941, the non-university team Preston Rivulettes were unbeaten in the LOHA and won ten consecutive championships. 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 the Great Depression, several university women's teams were dissolved. Consequently, ice hockey teams became rarer for numerous women's teams.

In 1941, the LOHA was dissolved and, in the aftermath, several teams begin to disappear. The Second World War also had an impact on 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. Women’s ice hockey would not return until the 1960s at the Canadian university level.

The revival in the 1960s resulted in the creation of new women's teams in several Canadian universities. In 1969, the Canada West Universities Athletic Association presents a project which gives birth to the Canadian Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Union. The first mission of which, is to organize sporting championships for university students in Western Canada. The first recognized championship (for volleyball) was presented in March, 1970 at the University of Waterloo, in Ontario. In 1971, the Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Union (WIAU) merged with the Ontario-Quebec University Athletic Association (OQUAA) to form the Ontario Women's Interuniversity Athletic Association (OWIAA). This resulted in university women's teams multiplying and several American university tournaments inviting Canadian teams.

Regional university championships exist in various areas throughout Canada. Ontario can boast the involvement of eleven university women's ice hockey teams. Each team plays a schedule of approximately 24 matches, and there is no Eastern or Western Conference. The first three teams of every division gain entry into the qualifying rounds of a postseason competition, which takes place under the structure of a "Final Four." In 1997, the different university associations (representing both men and women) create the Ontario University Athletics organization. The month of March 1998 became a significant time period as the first Canadian national university championship in women’s ice hockey takes place. The Concordia Stingers, representing Concordia University in Montreal hosted the event and won the first CIS championship.