Female Swedish hockey players boycott training, tournament over pay

[sawchuk1971]

Swedish hockey players boycott training, tournament over pay - Sportsnet.ca

The top female hockey players in Sweden refused to attend training camp Thursday or play in an upcoming international tournament in Finland, the latest such move by a women’s national team to get better compensation.

The Swedish Ice Hockey Federation said it had been informed of the looming boycott and was "surprised" at the decision.

A total of 43 national team players are involved in the boycott, which is seemingly about the lack of compensation they receive while on duty with the national team. The players were scheduled to attend a five-day camp starting Thursday outside Stockholm, ahead of the Five Nations Tournament — also involving Russia, Japan, Czech Republic and host Finland — beginning Tuesday.

A statement was posted on social media by Sweden player Erika Grahm, saying the action is being taken to "develop and create better conditions" in the national team to show "encouragement and respect" for current and future generations. It said the players’ demands are not "unreasonable" but didn’t disclose the specific issues.

The move is similar to what happened two years ago in North America, where the U.S. women’s national team threatened to boycott the 2017 world championships on home ice, demanding more pay and treatment similar to what the men’s team receives. They reached a four-year agreement with USA Hockey that increased pay up to $4,000 per month with the ability to make around $71,000 annually and up to $129,000 in Olympic years.

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[Jumptheshark]

you should add it is the females boycotting and not the men

 

[sh724]

Does the mens team get paid for training and playing in tournaments?

 

[Albatros]

What is there to say, they should get a better treatment and hopefully this will achieve that. The article is a bit misleading in that the boycott is not first and foremost about compensation but the level of attention they get from the federation in organizational matters.

 

[Tommy Hawk]

Good for them but it's like sports here. If you bring in a huge amount of profit, you should be getting more money and better treatment. If you lose money, why should you get more? A person that owns 20% of a company gets more attention and better treatment than one who own .02% of the company.

 

[SotasicA]

But what about the Swedish national hola hoop team? Or the beer pong team? The mice training team?

It's a can of worms if you start paying and giving perks to athletes that don't bring in any revenue.

 

[Yabob]

Does the mens team get paid for training and playing in tournaments?

In a way. They don't get paid by the federation, but as professional hockey players they still get paid by their teams while playing for team Sweden. There's an agreement between the federation and the SHL that makes sure of that.

The women, on the other hand, are partial or complete amatures. Most have a 9 to 5 job and play hockey in the evenings and during weekends. Their options when representing Sweden is hoping they can get paid vacation from their employers (but their paid vacation days probably won't cover all the camps and tournaments they are expected to attend each year) or take unpaid vacation to participate.

Yet the federation thinks that they should show up just as the professional male players do.

 

[Burke the Legend]

At least the article doesn't mention much comparison to the men although I can't read their original Swedish complaint. It seems like they just want some support from the government as amateurs who represent the country and take on a heavy play/training schedule, which is comparable to say Olympian athletes in non-profitable sports. Up to society to decide how much they want to spend on elite athletes participating in unpopular sports.

It's being compared to the US women's hockey team's move but it's a bit different in the US since USA Hockey is not part of a government sports ministry and the ladies basically demanded a bigger piece of their revenue pie out of an organization that is supported by youth/amateur membership dues. Those many registrants may or may not support their dues paying for the professional salaries of national team athletes. USA hockey also has rival organizations like the Amateur Athletic Union who recruit dissatisfied players to its own leagues.

 

[Albatros]

The SHL has agreed to sponsor the women's national team for the next three years which should allow more similar arrangements to those seen in men, but also a more lasting solution should be found meanwhile.