page_title: Canadian women's ice hockey history
section_title: Early history
hierarchical_section_title: Canadian women's ice hockey history / Early history
caption_attribution_description: Illustration of a female ice hockey player
context_page_description: The first instances of organized women's ice hockey in Canada date back to the 1890s when it was played at the university level. The Women's Hockey Association claims that the city of Ottawa, Ontario hosted the first game in 1891. In 1920, Lady Meredith, wife of Sir Vincent Meredith of Montreal donated the Lady Meredith Cup to the Quebec Ladies' Hockey Association, said to be the first women's ice hockey trophy to be competed for in Canada. In February 1921 a women's international championship series was played in conjunction with the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. One of the first professional teams were the Vancouver Amazons from the 1920s. They were the first women's hockey team from Vancouver to participate in the invitational women's hockey tournament sponsored by the Banff Winter Carnival. On December 16, 1922, a meeting was held to announce the formation of the Ladies Ontario Hockey Association. The Dominion Women's Amateur Hockey Association was founded in winter 1933. Lady Bessborough, the wife of Governor General of Canada Lord Bessborough donated a championship trophy.
  In 1978 Cookie Cartwright solely organized the Ontario Women's Hockey Association.
context_section_description: Lord Stanley of Preston's daughter, Lady Isobel Stanley, was a pioneer in the women's game and was one of the first females to be photographed using puck and stick (around 1890) on the natural ice rink at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Stanley, Canada's sixth Governor General, provided the ice for women's hockey games, transforming a large lawn on the grounds of Rideau Hall into a rink. Better known for his contribution of the challenge trophy later referred to as the Stanley Cup, Lord Stanley played a significant role in the development and growth of Canadian women's hockey. There have been disputes over where the first women's ice hockey game was played in Canada. The Women's Hockey Association claims that the city of Ottawa, Ontario hosted the first game in 1891. On February 11, 1891, one of the earliest newspaper accounts of a seven-a-side game between women appeared in the Ottawa Citizen. 
  In the 1890s, women's ice hockey was introduced at the university level. McGill University's women's hockey team debuted in 1894. The University of Toronto and Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario were also some of the earliest Canadian universities to field women's ice hockey teams. Queen's would later discontinue its women's teams.
  On March 8, 1899, an account appeared in the Ottawa Evening Journal newspaper of a game played between two women's teams of four per side at the Rideau Skating Rink in Ottawa. From 1915 to 1918 Albertine Lapensée played for the Cornwall Nationals. She is often considered Canada's first female hockey "superstar". In 1920, Lady Isobel Brenda (Allan) Meredith of Montreal donated the 'Lady Meredith Cup', the first ice hockey trophy in Canada to be competed for between women in ankle-length skirts. Lady Meredith (the wife of Sir Vincent Meredith) was the first cousin of Sir H. Montagu Allan who had donated the Allan Cup for men's amateur ice hockey in 1908. In the 1910s, women's ice hockey is known to have been played in Victoria, British Columbia.
  Elizabeth Graham would play ice hockey for Queen's University and is credited as being the first goaltender ever to wear a mask for protection. She used the mask in 1927, and the use of the mask was in the Montreal Daily Star. She actually wore a fencing mask and the speculation is that she had used the mask as a means of protecting dental work that had been recently performed.
  Abigail "Abby" Hoffman, gold medalist in the 880 yard event at the 1966 Commonwealth Games, first made a name for herself in ice hockey. She cut her hair short and pretended to be a boy in order to play with the St. Catharines Teepees, in a boys league. Once it was discovered that Hoffman was masquerading as a boy, the story made headlines around the world. An Ontario Supreme Court decision barred her from participating, although her parents challenged the league's "boys only" rule, but the league's policy was upheld by the provincial high court. In later years, Hoffman would help organize a national women's hockey championship (with representation from each province).
  During the 1960s, Cookie Cartwright and a group of dedicated students revived the women's ice hockey program at Queen's University. Cartwright and the Golden Gaels would go on to capture the first women's university championship.
  The women's game in Canada has been governed by the men's hockey system, except for Ontario which is governed by a separate women's hockey association. The Ontario Women's Hockey Association (OWHA) formed in 1975 and, though it was founded on the principles of collegialism (a collective volunteerism), it has shifted toward a professional mandate in more recent years.
  The province of Ontario has seen growth in the number of women participating in hockey. In 2003, there were 31,122 hockey players in female leagues in the province of Ontario. These players were part of 2,060 teams. In 1993, Ontario had 7,848 girls registered on 557 teams.
caption: Drawing of a female ice hockey player, from Hockey: Canada's Royal Winter Game (1899)
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