The first organized women’s hockey game was played back in 1892, in a place called Barrie in Ontario. However, some pieces of evidence suggest the game was being played long before then, though not officially. The National Hockey League was founded about two decades after the first official game was played. The popularity of women’s hockey grew quite fast after that.
During the 1930s and 1940s, the popularity of the game, unfortunately, started declining. The cause for the decline was mainly World War II and the Depression. Despite the popularity decline, one of the greatest teams of all times in women’s hockey was formed during that time. Called the Preston Rivulettes, the team lost only two times in 350 league games.
The popularity of women’s hockey began to rise again during the mid-1960s. Famous hockey tournaments began to take place during that time. During the 1970s is when everything picked up when several associations were formed to govern the women’s hockey programs.
An interesting thing to note is that in 1914 is when the first championship for women’s hockey was held, which took place in the province of Ontario. The United States also hosted an international women’s hockey tournament in 1916, in Cleveland.
The 1990s
It was not until the 1990s that women’s hockey began to be widely played, both at amateur and professional levels. A world championship for women was sanctioned in 1990 and has been played ever since. The number of registered women hockey players grew significantly at that time.
Currently, women’s hockey is a major sport that is featured in almost all the major sporting events across the world. Hockey World Cup and Olympics are examples of the major tournaments women hockey players get to participate in. The number of women’s hockey clubs is also currently higher than ever before.