Eight years ago, I decided to join the sport of ice hockey, a male-dominated sport. Starting on a co-ed team, I learned to play with both girls and boys. Now, I play with all girls, and I’ve begun to learn the differences in team environments.
#1:Keep Your Head Up
Being a female on a team or group with males can be challenging. Sometimes, people will not get along with you because of differences in gender, age, or skill level. They might make fun, be over-aggressive during practice, or even avoid you. Whether it’s being picked on as a joke, looked down upon, or criticized, people will be harsh to try and bring you down in order to feel better about themselves. One of the most important ways I’ve learned to deal with this is to keep my head held high no matter what anyone says, by being mindful and focusing on what I can control. This can be challenging, but can be achieved by embracing your differences and working hard no matter what.
#2:Turn Challenges into Opportunities
There are lots of times during athletics when you feel as if you’re blocked by a huge obstacle. It could be a coach who’s hard on you, a past mistake, stereotypes against gender, or even standards and expectations being too high. It’s important to turn that negativity into fuel and motivation, and to go against the status quo. I’ve learned and had to remind myself each time on the ice to change my mindset, push myself to succeed, and use my own values and differences to my advantage. Instead of giving in to expectations, fight against them and use it to work harder. This means exceeding those expectations and limits, and using the negative mindset as a reason to gain strength and power.
#3: Embrace your Experience
Although playing in a male-dominated sport requires a lot of work, it’s an amazing opportunity and experience. It’s important to embrace the opportunity to meet people and form relationships, to be pushed to be strong and work hard, and to have the chance to prove myself. When people ask about playing ice hockey, I am incredibly lucky to get to talk about the passion that makes me stronger every day.
