Clinic Thursday night was just what I needed, just balls-out work from start to finish. One of the drills they did was a 3-on-0. I protested as soon as the coach said that's what we were going to do, but to no avail. It turned out that I actually did quite well. I estimate that I stopped over half of the shots, which I think is pretty darn good for a 3-on-0 drill. I was good and tired the next day, which is just awesome, I totally missed that feeling. And I'm looking forward to more ice time tonight. THAT should be a blast. I'll be seeing a buddy I haven't seen in a while, and not only that he'll be in the other net. The trash talking has already begun.
But what's really got me thinking is something that comes up once in a while and each time I gripe about it a little and move on. I'm talking about the locker room issue. As I mentioned after Sunday's clinic, the rink now has a policy for clinics and Instructional League games, that one of the two assigned locker rooms is designated as the womens' locker room. From what I understand, most of the time there are far too many women to physically fit in the Closet, so this makes sense. (And complies with legal requirements of having to provide equal facilities for both sexes... but we won't go there right now). The designation for this locker room is displayed on the screen in the lobby with all the assignments- it clearly says that it is the womens' locker room for the session.
Now... I have a hard time with this issue because I can really see both sides of the fence here. On one hand, I change with my guys, always have, and probably always will, and really don't think it's that big of a deal. However, these are my teammates. I've known these guys for years, we respect each other, and the new guys who invariably come in and are surprised at first take it in stride and deal with it. But that's just me. That's not every woman's experience.
But there is a big difference between a league situation and something like clinic or open hockey. There's a bit of a different vibe when you don't know the people. Having separate but equal accommodations (i.e. sink, toilet and shower) available makes sense and seems appropriate.
So, on Thursday night when we got off the ice, and the other two women and I headed for locker room 3, we were pretty surprised to find five 18-20 yr old guys in there, in the midst of getting geared up. I walked in and sat by my bag and started taking my gear off, but did inform them that it was the womens' locker room and I'd like to be able to take a shower. One kid whispered "I told you!" to another but other than that not much was said. They were about halfway dressed and packed up the rest of their stuff and took their bags to another room.
I was pretty pissed off about it at the time, and I've been trying to analyze that for the last few days. Aren't I the champion of the "so what, change with each other, who cares" cause? For sure, but as I pointed out before, that's with your team, not with a bunch of random people. It just really frustrates me that this continues to be an issue. There should be a REAL locker room designated for women. They could even convert the Closet into one; on the other side of the wall is the coaches/ref's locker room, so all the plumbing is already there. Would I use it when I'm there with my teams? Nope. But I'd definitely be in there when there for other things. Call me crazy but I don't feel safe in a room full of young guys I don't know.
I considered bringing this up with rink management, and asking that they designate the room with a sign on the actual door rather than just the listing in the lobby, but decided not to because I guess it never would have happened if we'd locked the room and taken the key with us to the bench. I'm not going to turn this into a crusade, as others have. But it still really bothers me from time to time. One of the QCats has a magnetic sign that says "women only" that she puts on the door of whatever locker room we're in, if we're in an unfamiliar rink. I used to think that was kind of going overboard but now I don't know. Maybe it was the age of the guys. If I'd walked in and a bunch of 40-year-olds were in there I don't think I'd have been as unsettled. Besides, they smelled. When I told GoalieHusband there were "a bunch of smelly boys" in the locker room, he thought I was just being funny. Oh no, my dear. They reeked. There is no smell like teenage boy hockey player. Gross.
No comments:
Post a Comment