Italy's national women's ice hockey team has done something unheard of in Italian women's hockey history, earning a quarterfinal berth at the Olympics. It's time their nation responds by funding and supporting girls' hockey moving forward.
Nadia Mattivi grew up playing boys' hockey in Italy. Matilde Fantin also played boys' hockey and had to leave Italy to find competition in Switzerland. It's a common theme in a nation that has done very little to support girls' and women's hockey.
At the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics, Italy's national women's hockey team not only beat France for the first women's hockey win in the nation's Olympic history, but followed it up by beating top division staple Japan to secure their spot in the quarterfinals.
It's historic representation for the nation, who will now face either Canada or USA. The last time Italy faced a top nation was in 2006 when the nation hosted the Turin Olympics. That year however, Italy was outscored 32-1 in three preliminary round games, and finished last after losing a placement game.
Following those Olympics, Italy ignored women's hockey. There was no funding, no development plan, just stagnancy. Matilde Fantin, who was born the following year in 2007, spent her entire life chasing a dream that was not supported in a meaningful way by her nation.
With 2026 marking a new, historic success for the nation who invested in leadership for their team with Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Daniele Sauvageau at the helm, and Canadian head coach Eric Bouchard guiding the program, and dual passport players brought in to bolster Italy's competitiveness, the nation could be on the rise.
Could be, because other nations who followed similar pathways including China ahead of the 2022 Olympics, quickly abandoned their growth to return to status quo.
Italy, much like China leading up to their Olympics, climbed in the international rankings earning promotion to the Division 1A tournament. It's an important step for Italy, and if they continue to support women's hockey in the nation, and find a way to retain some of their dual passport talent, while pouring support into the development of girls' hockey, they could continue that climb.
In Italy, the most significant issue is a lack of a girls' hockey system. Other nations, including Czechia, have only recently launched girls' hockey leagues. The other is a weak top women's league. Italy does have EV Bozen who plays in the EWHL with top teams from Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Kazakhstan. But it's only a single team, and the EWHL remains Europe's 3-4 best league behind the SDHL, PostFinance Women's League, and alongside Germany's DFEL.
It's a similar issue to France neighbouring France. Collaboration by both nations with Switzerland's PostFinance League, where four members of Italy's national team currently play, could benefit all.
The proof is in the opposite directions of Italy's women's national programs. While their senior team has exceeded all expectations, their U-18 national team, which is fully supported by only the offerings currently available in Italy, was relegated to the Division 1B tournament. More than half of their roster remain playing U-16 boys' hockey in Italy, with no options for girls' and women's development in the nation.
Aside from Maddalena Bedont, a defender playing in Finland who is committed to play NCAA hockey at Lindenwood, however, there are no clear prospects en route to fill Italy's national team void should their dual passport players depart. 14-year-old Amy Leimgruber came to North America this year to play, and there are a handful of promising players still coming, but none capable of keeping Italy in the Division 1A tournament should their dual passport players move on.
Fantin will remain a force playing for Penn State and looking like a future PWHL prospect, and Nadia Mattivi is destined to join the PWHL next season. It's a start for representation and visibility for girls in the nation, but it won't be enough, and Fantin and Mattivi reached their level of success in spite of Italy's lack of support, not because of any support from the national program or government.
There's hope however, that Italy's success could spark continued support. Italian Ice Sports Federation president Andrea Gios touted the achievement as "worth as much as a gold medal in another sport." She also spoke of the Federation's investment to get women's hockey to this point, and mentioned that the result shows what's possible when you invest in women's sports.
"The hope is that this result, achieved in an extremely prestigious Olympic context, will contribute to an ever-increasing understanding of how hockey is a sport of great value, capable of offering opportunities, emotions, and positive role models to girls as well, just as it does in the men's sector. A journey that demonstrates how investing in women's sport means investing in the future of the entire country. movement."
Italy's national team has done everything they could to raise the bar for girls' and women's hockey in the nation leading up to, and at the 2026 Olympic Games. Now it's up to Italia Hockey and the Italian government to show women and girls that they care about athletic opportunities for them, and to develop a plan, and fund it, to keep girls' and women's hockey in Italy moving forward.