The Weight Issue in Girls Hockey
I know this topic makes most coaches, parents and players uncomfortable.
But weight and body image are such big issues for girls' hockey players, and ones that are often swept under the rug by coaches and parents, and constantly thought about by young female players, that I had to break the silence.
Unlike boys' hockey players who all want to grow up to be 6'2” and 200 lbs, girls' hockey players don't want to or need to muscle-bound, heavy or big to compete at the highest level of our sport. In fact, sometimes being a bigger player in the female game works against you. I remember getting more than a few penalties back in high school and college when much smaller players ran into me and fell over, and I ended up in the box.
Back when I played in college and in the elite women's hockey leagues here in Canada, I weighed 165lbs and am just slightly less than that now. I have absolutely no problem telling people how much I weigh now, but it was a much touchier subject back when I was growing up as a young female athlete.
I was always a big kid growing up (a fat kid really) and throughout high school and college, I definitely found myself being consumed by the numbers on the scale. I knew I was never going to be 120lbs, but like most of the girls I knew, I was very concerned about how much I weighed. I wouldn't have been comfortable telling people what I weighed back then. It wasn't that I was embarrassed, it was just that most of my close friends, whether they were hockey players or not, were much smaller than me. To be honest, I just wanted to fit in - and I also wanted to be the best player possible. I knew that I had to train hard off the ice and fuel my body with high-energy food so that I could compete at the highest level possible, but there was always that little voice in the back of my mind saying that I was too big and that I would play better, and look better, if I was smaller.
No one told me that directly, but I watched TV and read magazines and I saw that most of the “cute” girls looked like they were the size of my leg. Girls are constantly seeing images of “super-skinny size zero” celebrities and there are far too many “Next Top Model” and weight loss shows on TV. Research shows that that 55% of 16-year-old girls believe they are too fat, when in reality, only 20% of them are even overweight. These stats and these shows raise a serious red flag about how this “ideal” body image influences girls' hockey players.
Players are always asking me how they can make their legs smaller and get rid of their muscles. And these are some the top players in their age group. This obviously isn't going to work to their advantage physically, but it is even more damaging psychologically. Despite what girls see in the fashion magazines and on TV, there aren't many women who are 5 foot 9 and weigh 100 pounds. And there definitely aren't any elite female players that fit this “ideal” - the average weight on the National Team is around 150 pounds.
I wish I could sit here and tell you this isn't a problem in girls' hockey. I wish I could tell players that they never worry about their weight again and know that the number on the scale has absolutely nothing to do with their ability as a player or their worth as a person. But I know that my influence is tiny compared to the power of mainstream media. I wish I didn't have to listen to young players talking about how “fat” they are (when they aren't) and worrying so much about how they look in their jeans.
But I also know exactly what it's like to be a 15 year old girl who just wants to fit in and I can't blame girls for this type of behavior. I hope that by talking about this issue with players, parent and coaches in this way, and on a regular basis, that I empower just one or two girls to know that it is OK to be a strong, powerful woman and that training and competing in the sport you love is much more important than your jean size.
Resource Box:
To get complete access to articles, videos, interviews and advice on how to take your game to the next level at: http://www.totalfemalehockeyclub.com. Kim McCullough, MSc, YCS, is an expert in the development of aspiring female hockey players. She is a former Division 1 captain at Dartmouth College and played in the National Women's Hockey League for 6 years. She is the Founder and Director of Total Female Hockey and is also the Girls Hockey Director at the PEAC School for Elite Athletes in Toronto.
