It’s absurd that there’s so much infrastructure for men’s sports that isn’t there today for women’s sports. For example, men’s baseball in the US and Canada has the major leagues, AAA, AA, high A, low A, etc. across various cities, states, provinces, etc. It’s similar for hockey and other sports. Being able to support that many leagues with that many players, all paid (though at widely varying rates) is quite remarkable.

Starting up a new league like the PWHL for women’s hockey is wonderful, but I can’t help but wonder how difficult it will be to put all of the infrastructure together around this. Establishing funnels for growing talent, farm teams for development/recovery/etc. on top of things like brand, TV/streaming deals, etc. It’s hard but I really hope it comes together.

It must be so difficult today for top female athletes to develop their skills and attributes (weight training, speed, etc.) when also having to hold down a job and get an education for a post-athletics life. It’s one thing to be a professional athlete who’s paid enough to focus all their energy on their sport and not worry about supporting themselves after their career. They can continue to hone their craft with few other responsibilities. It’s another challenge altogether to have “elite athletics” as an evening and weekend side-hustle.

Let’s hope the coming years and decades see a seismic shift.