UPDATE: U.S. Women’s Hockey Team Pay Dispute Resolved After 20 Senators Pen Letter to Governing Body

The International Ice Hockey Federation world championship, begins Friday in Plymouth, Michigan, and the U.S. Women’s Hockey Team is locked in a bitter pay dispute with U.S.A. Hockey — the sport’s governing body in the United States. If the dispute is not resolved, the team has threatened to boycott the event.

On Monday, 20 Democratic Senators signed their names to a letter addressed to Dave Ogrean, the executive director of USA Hockey. In the letter, Senators unequivocally backed the players, and said they were “disturbed” by the pay disparity between the male and female teams.

“We are disturbed by reports from the U.S. Women’s National Hockey Team suggesting that USA Hockey is not providing ‘equitable support’ to female athletes,” the letter reads. “While USA Hockey provides its male athletes with a ‘seemingly endless’ supply of hockey equipment, for example, female players are often expected to ‘buy their own.'”

Per a New York Times report, the U.S. Women’s Hockey team receives a $1,000 monthly stipend from USA hockey for one six-month period every four years as the team trains for the Olympics. They also get up to $2,000 a month from the U.S. Olympic committee year-round. Still, USA Hockey mandates a time-consuming training schedule which makes outside employment difficult for the players.

“These elite athletes indeed deserve fairness and respect, and we hope you will be a leader on this issue as women continue to push for equality in athletics,” the letter said.

Among the notables who signed were Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).

[image via screengrab]

UPDATE 8:13 a.m. WEDNESDAY — The dispute has been resolved, and the team will take the ice in Plymouth on Friday. The full terms of the deal were not disclosed, but The New York Times reports that the women’s team will now receive travel and insurance provisions on par with the men’s team.

The office of Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), one of the 20 Senators who signed the letter to U.S.A. Hockey, reached out to Mediaite with a joint statement from the Senator and her colleague, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) celebrating the agreement.

We stand with the courageous U.S. Women’s National Hockey Team. These exceptional athletes have won medals in every Olympics since 1998, and they should be respected for their contributions to the sport. That’s why we are glad USA Hockey and the women’s national hockey team reached an agreement today. In our states, we know hockey. Our girls should be able to succeed at this sport, or any sport, just as much as our boys – that’s the world we want all our kids to grow up in.

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