River Falls Hockey Players Decline To Be Team USA Replacements
RIVER FALLS, Wis. (WCCO) -- You may have heard about the boycott of the IIHF World Championships by the USA women's hockey team.
With the tournament quickly approaching – it begins Friday in Michigan – USA Hockey's board of directors held an emergency meeting Monday afternoon to vote on a possible deal to end it.
We are still awaiting word of the results, but the vote only ever happened because a last-ditch effort to find replacement players was thwarted.
It was a phone call Carly Moran and Dani Sibley will never forget. An official from USA Hockey was offering the Division-III players from Wisconsin-River Falls the chance of a lifetime – to represent Team USA in the World Championships.
"Yeah, I mean, I was definitely not expecting that when I woke up on Saturday morning," said Carly Moran, a junior forward from Winona. "At first, it's hard not to be super excited. I mean, that's a super cool opportunity."
Under normal circumstances, they would've jumped at it. But these weren't normal circumstances. The women's national team was vowing to boycott the World Championships in an effort to negotiate better pay and equitable support. Players currently receive just $6,000 every four years, and don't get the same level of travel and accommodations as the men's team. The players announced earlier this month that they would boycott the World Championships "unless significant progress has been made on the year-long negotiations with USA Hockey over fair wages and equitable support."
USA Hockey had said it wanted to strike a deal. But late last week, in an apparent reach for leverage, it started seeking out replacement players.
Moran and Sibley took a couple hours to think about it. And then, in a show of solidarity with the players, they gave their answer: No.
"In your heart, you just know that it's the right thing to do," said Sibley, a senior forward from Monticello. "Even if it has been a dream to wear a Team USA jersey and how surreal that moment would have been, it's just the right thing to do to support them."
Moran said it's much bigger than her and Sibley.
"I think this is overall just really huge for the sport, and for women's hockey, and for women's athletics in general," Moran said. "So, if we can support these girls in any way possible, we're going to do that. I mean, we've spent our whole childhood looking up to these athletes, and they've done so much for the sport already. And I think that, in our hearts, we know that it's the right thing to do."
The show of solidarity has been strong. Many others have said no as well, from former college players to high schoolers, including Eastview's Natalie Snodgrass.
Even, reportedly, U-16 players.
Even the men's team vowed not to play in their World Championships tournament if replacement women's players were used.
It's unknown how many replacement women agreed to play, but it's believed to be just a handful --- not nearly enough to field a team.
"To be a part of a movement like this, I think is really cool," Moran said. "I think it's going to be a huge change, and it needs to happen. So I hope to see some results."
"I think that's all we really wanted, in this whole thing," Sibley said, "was to support the girls, support hockey, support girls coming up, and for future generations. And so it's an awesome movement, and something I'm proud to be a part of."