WOMENS’ SOCCER FOUNDERS DESERVE RECOGNITION ON P.E.I.

I have to wonder if the inequality of women also exists within Sport P.E.I. and or in the P.E.I. Soccer Hall of Fame.

To the best of my knowledge, there is no mention of our early beginnings in the sport of soccer. No mention of the Hillis Oil Stars, the first all-girls team to register with the Canadian Soccer Association in 1975. No mention that this team joined and competed in the boys under-12 leagues in the year. No mention that in 1976, we formed the first all-girl league with six teams. There is merely a mention of girls’ soccer followed in 1977, giving an impression it just naturally occurred.

In the early days there was lots of roadblocks put up. The principal at one Island high school once told me girls were not designed to play soccer. I continued to coach the Oil Stars into the mid 1980s. We had some great success during those years — our very own Patti Downe was selected to represent the combined Maritimes team in the Canadian championships. She was the only female from P.E.I. to be chosen. I have in the past sent in a history of girls’ soccer to Sport P.E.I., but it was never acknowledged. I’m dismayed that our meagre beginnings which was the catalyst that started the whole female soccer movement has been ignored. If we look around today, girls are playing all over the Island. There are soccer fields everywhere. Not many existed in 1975.

In Cymbria, we created our own field made our own goal posts and, with push mowers, cut the grass and lined the field before games. We scrounged, begged and borrowed to create uniforms. There were no minivans and no soccer moms. We persisted, we had fun and most importantly we grew the sport of female soccer. I believe that our history should be recorded just as much as any other sport. One of our early players still plays today and is her 80s. However, it’s not up to me or the girls (most are married and have their own little players today). So, I pose the question again: shall we wait to see if inequality really does exist within Sport P.E.I.?