- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- Lewandowski treble for leaders Barca as Atletico held
- Fresh Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Sucic stunner earns Real Sociedad draw against Atletico
- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
Women's hockey struggling in Canada
In Canada, hockey is king but there are few queens. In many regions, women's teams do not exist and there is no women's professional league. But many are fighting to change that.
"The next five years will make up for the last 15. I think now is the time," said Daniele Sauvageau, former Canadian national team coach and now director of the high performance center.
"We're going to see changes and more visibility, probably more women's sports on TV than we've seen," she added.
It's quite the paradox that despite another Olympic gold medal in Beijing, Canadian female hockey players are still not very visible in their country and hockey remains mainly a sport for men. Women still represent less than 20 percent of players in Canada (less than 10 percent in Quebec).
The introduction in 2017 of a form of salary in the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) could have marked a turning point. But barely two years later, the announcement of its bankruptcy put an end to the professionalization movement that seemed to have begun.
"We come back to the forefront with the Olympic Games. But everything has to be redone every four years," said Marie-Philip Poulin, captain of the Canadian team and three-time Olympic champion.
The latter founded, together with other Canadian and American players, the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA). Their goal: to create a cross-border league where female athletes can be paid as professionals without having to work on the side.
"We believe in it. We are fighting to create a league not only for ourselves, but for the next generations of players. It takes patience," she added.
- 'Boys can be mean' -
In the women's clubs, the girls know little about these champions.
"There's still the perception of only boys playing hockey, but I think it's started to change now," said Kim McCullough, head of a women's hockey club in Toronto.
According to a recent poll, more than 92 percent of Canadians believe that girls should be encouraged to play sports as much as boys, but more than 33 percent still consider that certain sports are not suitable for women.
In recent years, "we've seen growth at a lot of different levels, which I think is awesome. The more players we can get, the better it is for our sport," added McCullough, wearing a red Team Canada cap.
On the ice, beginners aged seven to 14, green or pink jerseys on their backs, skated at full speed from one end of the rink to the other, forwards and backwards, sometimes falling, under the watchful eyes of their parents, who capture the moment in images on their smartphones from behind the safety glass that surrounds the rink.
Jamie Bliss, 43, accompanied his daughter Kira, 12, to training: "It's great having all the girls on ice but also having the coaches being women. I think it's great for them to see others girls and women coaching them, encouraging them, that really helps to build their confidence."
Having a role model is what motivated 10-year-old Hallae. "I was inspired by my dad's girlfriend, she did a lot of hockey," she said, adding that she loves the sport.
At this all-girls club in Toronto, many say it makes them feel more comfortable.
"It's easier because some boys can sometimes be mean when you mess up," said eight-year-old Riley.
But not all provinces offer the opportunity for girls to play on women's teams to discover hockey. In Quebec, most of the time the girls are integrated into the boys' teams.
A recent report, commissioned by the Quebec government on the hockey system of the French-speaking province, focused in particular on the promotion of women's hockey and recommended better supervision of the development and career of players. And for more women in key positions within Hockey Quebec.
A.Santos--PC