On the Edge: Women Making Hockey History

by Elizabeth Etue, Megan Williams

Despite the popularity of women’s hockey, players from around the world still confront intolerance and prejudice. On the Edge provides a dramatic look into the business and politics of women’s hockey today.

Genres: Sports, Hockey, Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Elizabeth Etue is currently the editor of http://www.winih.com/ (Women's International Ice Hockey).

Elizabeth Etue has been passionately involved with the game as a writer and producer since 1992. She wrote two books: On The Edge, Women Making Hockey History 1996, co-authored with Megan Williams published by Second Story Press, and in 2005 Hayley Wickenheiser: Born to Play, published by Kids Can Press.

She produced Overtime, a women’s hockey magazine to celebrate Olympic status in 1998, and Women’s Hockey Heroes, a fundraising calendar for high school hockey.

In 2001, she wrote and produced the documentary Chasing the Dream: Women’s International Hockey, for CBC television. She persuaded the boys at The Hockey News to launch a weekly column on women’s hockey, which she wrote from 2005-2008.

Reviews

[Joanne Lannin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exhaustive research makes this a valuable edition to the story of women's ice hockey, which is surging in popularity in the U.S. and Canada. It was interesting to read about how women's hockey made it into the Olympics, finally, in 1998. While the book came out before that Olympics, it does a nice job of setting the stage for the event in Nagano, even suggesting that the U.S. could threaten Canada's dominance (which it did).
Of course I liked the feminist tone the authors took. Through extensive interviews, they laid bare the disdain that male hockey officials and the male-dominated media displayed toward women's hockey and how their attitudes held back the growth of the sport. One international tournament sponsored by USA Hockey was held in a practice arena that seated only 1,200 people. The Canadian sports network, akin to ESPN, failed to cover the second-ever Women's World Championships, even though Canada was the runaway favorite.
One criticism is how heavy the book is with the political machinations of various hockey organizations in Canada. I finally sorted out most of the alphabet soup, but came away wondering how Canadians keep all the various organizations and leagues straight.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 1997, this looks at the history and development of women's hockey in Canada to that time. It was quite timely seeing how the sport would make it's Olympic debut in 1998, and Etue and Williams go through the massive efforts the leading figures of women's hockey had to face to get the sport to where it was. They show that it largely grew from nothing, and reading the book nearly 30 years after it's publication one can see quite a lot of similarities to what they faced at the time, but also how much more it has developed since then. For anyone interested in the history of the sport, this is an important book to read, especially as it looks at the more grassroots amateur development that was women's hockey of the era.

[Charlie Chapple · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book predates Nagano, making it an interesting snapshot in time, especially the speculations and how they match up with what has happened since. I learned a lot about dedicated women keeping leagues afloat, and the barriers of gender discrimination they have to face.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

On the Edge (Paperback)
by Elizabeth Etue

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book on how it was about women in hockey since I know I'm one of the few girls who will play with the boys. This book gave me some insights on other people's experiences and the people who really paved the way to make it easier for me to be one of the boys.

This book had a bit more of a feminist twist on things than I would have liked. As a child who grew up with Title IX, playing with the boys wasn't a big deal or a thing for gender rights. It was more the result of I joined a co-ed adult league and no other girls did. Plus as a rule, I don't tend to always agree with the feminist ideals. I just don't see things through a gender lenses.

But I loved the history in the book. Plus I liked how they talked about how different girls took different routes to become some of the best players in the world. That was cool to see and realize.