In men's hockey, Hockey Canada will always come calling for the best and brightest. On the women's side, even if a player is registered under Hockey Canada's umbrella in Ontario, some remain ineligible for Team Ontario's Program of Excellent provincial camps. It's a delay that could cost players an opportunity to make Canada's U-18 national team, and delay exposure to NCAA programs.
These are Canadian citizens, who pay Hockey Canada dues. At the moment however, girls cannot compete for Team Ontario or advance through high performance camps if they aren't playing girls' hockey. In the past, girls have been able to register for both a men's and women's team, but not all, and recently, Ontario has denied some from doing just that.
It means for some players, they are being forced to change their development path leaving boys' 'AAA' hockey sooner than they'd like, leaving friends and teammates they've played alongside for years.
"Hockey Canada does not have the infrastructure or staffing to scout girls playing boys hockey. For this reason it is very important for the athlete to be involved with the provincial (branch) program as this may be the only way we would see them play until they make the move to full time female hockey," Melody Davidson said in a Hockey Canada FAQ.
It goes against the old adage that if you're good enough, the scouts will find you...that is, unless you're a girl playing boys hockey.
While it's a simple rule keeping some girls out of Hockey Canada's Program of Excellence, not all believe that all girls should make the jump over just to bend to the Program of Excellence's rules.
“I really believe everybody’s situation is completely different,” Team Canada and Toronto Sceptres head coach Troy Ryan told the Toronto Star. “I know everybody takes a side on this. But the truth is, sometimes the best situation is for them to play on the boys’ side. Sometimes they’re better off on the girls’ side. But the best thing is that they have the option to play either.”
“I do think they need to open that up. I understand (the OWHA’s) mandate in terms of wanting to grow these hockey players under their scope,” said former Team Canada star Cheryl Pounder in an interview with the Star.. “But there are some great, great athletes that get missed because of it, and that’s not necessarily right, either ... Choose your best (path), is what I would say.”
Ontario has been fighting to exclude girls hockey players who compete with boys since the 1970s, which trickled over into the 1980s when individuals like Justine Blainey had to take their case to the Supreme Court and Ontario Human Rights Tribunal's to have discriminatory practices ended.
Some of those practices, however, like banning girls hockey players competing on boys teams from higher levels of competition, continue.
Some argue that at some point, girls need to switch over to continue their development. Ontario's Program of Excellent removes that choice.
In recent seasons, dozens of girls in Ontario have made the jump, some in time to be included in Ontario's Program of Excellence, others missing the window. Among others, Caitlyn Tran, Lily Reid, Avery Wathke, Maive Aird, Jordan Mulvihill, Annabella Di Palma, Charlotte Endicott, Sia Michanos, Brayah Bemrose, Caylee Burchett, Shae Faulkner, Darshan Manak, Brynn Belleau, Maëlie Boudreau, are just a handful of the women who have played boys' 'AAA' hockey in the past few seasons in Ontario, and are now considered some of the top prospects for the province at the U-16 level.