CURRENT EVENTS #2

Should women's hockey stay in the Olympics?

The debate about whether women's hockey should stay in the Olympics is an ongoing debate.  For those who want the game to stay, they say it needs time to grow and eventually more countries will embrace the sport.  For those who want it to go, they say it's imbalanced because the top two teams are always Canada and the U.S.A.  The other countries have a long ways to go before catching up with the abilities of North American players.

Rene Fasel, International Ice Hockey Federation President and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman are two people who would like to see Women's Hockey stay in the Olympics.   Canada and the U.S.A. already have female hockey players who are the best and they're still improving.  The rest of the world is miles behind which means that they have a lot of catching up to do.  Sochi, Russia hosted the fifth Olympics that had women's hockey as a sport.  Canada has won the gold medal three times and the U.S. once.  Proponents of eliminating women's hockey from the Games argue that this sport is not competitive because it's always Canada and the U.S. that end up winning.  It seems like the other countries don't stand much of a chance unless they do something drastic to improve their game.

Fasel states that European hockey is not what it should be, but it has improved.  He notes that it took Switzerland 60 - 70 years to finally beat Canada at the Olympics for the first time in Torino, Italy.  He feels we need to exercise a lot of patience with women's hockey and draw attention to it.  It is a sport that deserves attention.  Over the years, more and more countries have sent female hockey teams to the Olympics which is a sign that things are improving.  There are currently 8 teams in the Olympics, but Fasel would like to see this grow to 10 teams.

In conclusion, I think women's hockey should stay in the Olympics because it is a sport that women are progressively becoming more interested in.  The general public is also interested in this sport, especially North Americans.  If it were to be removed from the Olympics, it would stifle the growth of the sport since the Olympics draws a lot of attention to women's hockey.  The Olympics promotes its growth because it is mostly an amateur sport.  It is critical that women's hockey remains an Olympic event.  It will take much patience, but women's hockey will grow worldwide in time.   

 I got my information here

http://www.ctvnews.ca/sochi/iihf-president-women-s-hockey-will-never-be-out-of-olympics-1.1691364