The extent of the American women players is surprising, especially when the Canadian Women's Hockey League players are unpaid.

The Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) has been growing and developing for seven seasons now. There are just five teams in the league but the rosters are filled with women we've rooted for in the 2014 Winter Olympics, as well as top NCAA Division I athletes and other high-caliber players. They are some of the best hockey players in the world, yet none are paid.

Salaries for women playing at the top: $1,000 per year. If they win.
It's easy to see why salaries are non-existent: The CWHL's annual budget is a mere $1.8 million dollars (up from $1.7 million the previous season). To put it in terms hockey fans can appreciate: "One salary of a base NHL player runs my league," says CWHL founder and commissioner Brenda Andress.

The one financial bright spot is the promise of $500 to each player on the teams that win the Clarkson Cup (recognizing the top women's hockey team in the CWHL) and the Chairman's trophy (awarded to the team with the most points at the end of the season). "It might not seem like a lot, but for our players, there's the possibility to earn up to $1,000, which they've never had an opportunity to get," says Andress.


Many women in the league receive a stipend for top-ranked amateur athletes from the Canadian or U.S. government. But it's not enough to live on. Part-time jobs are the norm, and those who don't qualify for a stipend work full-time, training and practicing in the evenings after a full day at work and travelling all weekend for games. ...
Ouellette is quick to point out many of her teammates face greater obstacles. "I admire even more my teammates that have full-time jobs," she says, noting that the team was on the road until after midnight the previous day. "Those girls get up today to go back to work."

Andress also admires the players who juggle a full-time job and the CWHL's schedule. "I always say, 'You should follow them around for a week; it would blow your socks off to see what these guys do to play a game they love and not be paid for it,'" she says. "

This conflict between earing a living and staying in the game has been reverberating through women's hockey for some time. In February 2014, following the Sochi Olympics, Finnish goalie Noora Räty—arguably the best women's goalie in the world, with 43 career shutouts and an undefeated season in Division I NCAA play—announced she was retiring from women's hockey unless she could play in a competitive league. She was just 24 at the time, and in top form. ...
The challenge now is to get the fans to buy in to the CWHL—it's a key element in the league moving forward and reaching a point where it can pay its players, says Andress. "I say all the time, 'Guys, you're right. It's atrocious that these women aren't paid. But you can make a difference, and all you have to do is come to a game or watch it on TV—and 13 million of you did that [during] the Olympics.'"
http://www.canadianliving.com/life-a...yers-go-unpaid