The puck will drop this month on the inaugural Women's Para Ice Hockey World Championships in Dolny Kubin, Slovakia. It will be a historic moment for women's para ice hockey as the sport continues to build toward full Paralympic inclusion.
It will also be an important moment for women in officiating as the tournament will feature only women as on-ice officials for the tournament. The group features nine women from six countries who will officiate all games at the tournament.
“The inaugural World Para Ice Hockey Women’s World Championships is going to be a massive moment to create the next wave of momentum for our sport, and having an all-women’s officiating crew is going to make it even more meaningful,” said Michelle Laflamme, World Para Ice Hockey Manager. “It is important to WPIH that all aspects of our sport are raising the bar for gender equity – from athletes to coaches to officials – as we look to set the standard for other sports.”
The officiating roster for the tournament will include Philippa MacKinnon (Great Britain), Rachel Hutchinson (USA) and Melissa Sweers (USA) as referees, and Shadei Said (Canada), Anne-Sophie Boniface (France), Brooke Nuemaker (USA), Evonne Fix (USA), Eva Molekova (Slovakia) and Katerina Peskova (Czechia) serving as linespeople.
“I believe it’s important for women officials to be represented at the Women’s World Championships, as it creates female role models for young athletes and spectators, and can help break stereotypes of leadership or decision-making roles typically filled by men,” referee Philippa MacKinnon told Paralympic.org.
“We will combine our experiences of varied levels of Para ice hockey in our home countries, and I think we grow with each game we work. We also take the advice back home from these events and help new female officials learn more about Para ice hockey.”
An officiating crew of all women has become the standard for major women's para ice hockey events as the World Challenge events the last two seasons in Green Bay have been all women's officiating crews.
The tournament opens on August 26 with the bronze and gold medal games being played August 31.