I think it's extremely important to have female role models in hockey so that young girls want to continue playing. So they can see that it's possible to become something and that it's worth investing in, says Linköping national team player Lova Blom.
The survey conducted by YouGov on behalf of Amazon Sweden, main partner to SDHL, looked at, among other things, why more young girls don't start playing ice hockey.
One thing that became clear in the survey was the importance of female role models. It's something that SDHL constantly works with. We work closely with the clubs and players to create profiles. At the same time, it's also important that we work on reaching the target group we want. In this case, it's young girls. Then we must, on the one hand, go out to schools and show that it's possible to become a pro even if you're a girl, but also let the girls in SDHL take a big place on our social media, specifically on platforms where younger girls are, says Angelica Lindeberg, operations manager at SDHL.
"Only girl"
When 21-year-old Lova Blom started playing ice hockey as a young girl, there was no opportunity for her to play with girls. She had to play with boys her age. She looks positively on the development around girls' teams.
I've almost been the only girl in all boys' teams during my entire youth, before I started high school. Not everyone wants to play with boys at that age. I think it's a completely different situation and experience now when young girls start playing, now there are girls' teams. That development is extremely positive, I really think it can be a key to getting more young girls to want to start playing hockey.
"Inspires a lot"
Blom believes herself that an important part going forward is to engage young girls in SDHL to get the interest in hockey to grow.
I think it's great to invite girls' teams to come and watch SDHL matches. That way, the younger girls really get to see that it's possible to succeed and become a great hockey player as a girl. I also think the players need to put in a lot of work, such as going to their home clubs and showing off and telling the little girls that there's a path to follow. I think that inspires a lot.
