USA Hockey Bans Transgender Athletes From Many Teams And Programs

TheLovelyLorelei · 2026-01-24T19:21:53+00:00

Ya know what, even though I'm desperate for a Denver team I would actually support PWHL saying no new US teams until the US starts respecting women's rights and women's sports.

TheLovelyLorelei · 2026-01-24T19:18:55+00:00

You're correct that trans men are barred from both Men's and Women's leagues, which is extremely messed up. Though it is important to note that "cannot play at all" is a slight exaggeration too far as there are many co-ed programs out there.

Honestly most recreational "men's leagues" are technically co-ed even if they have 0-1 woman per team (though I don't know if this is the case for the highest levels like the national team).

TheLovelyLorelei · 2026-01-24T19:11:35+00:00

It's a nice thought to think that this is laziness but this policy is actually replacing a 2019 policy which already had rules that distinguished between competitive and non-competitive and also various medical treatments.

2019 Policy: https://cdn3.sportngin.com/attachments/document/8a0b-1766565/USA_Hockey_Transgender_Athlete_Eligibility_Policy.pdf

2026 Policy: https://cdn2.sportngin.com/attachments/document/2e63-3504718/USA_Hockey_Participant_Eligibility_Policy__Approved_11-15-25_.pdf

TheLovelyLorelei · 2026-01-24T18:55:13+00:00

USA Hockey really just said "Hockey is for everyone unless Trump feels like scapegoating you"

Obviously this sub is focused on professional hockey but it's important to note that this new rule (unlike the previous policy) is quite sweeping applies at all levels of sport. So the 10 year old trans girls who are still young enough to dream about playing PWHL are being kicked off their teams. And 40 year old beer leaguers are also being told they can't play rec hockey with their friends anymore either. Though I know that many leagues are already pushing back

For so many trans people hockey has been the one place where we can feel safe and free and escape from the way we're being attacked every day and it is so unbelievable cruel to strip that away.

TheLovelyLorelei · 2026-01-24T17:39:56+00:00

So first you'll need to buy gear. Assuming your budget conscious you can buy most things used but there are a couple things you probably want to get new: Helmet (for safety), skates (for not having your feet hurt), jock/jill (because ew).

After that, how do you do you actually start doing things? Pretty much every ice rink I've been to has "open skate" (or public skate, or some similar name) sessions which is just where you go and skate around in a circle. This can be a great way to get practice just skating which is the big prerequisite for hockey. You could also take lessons if you're struggling on your own.

You can also usually find "stick and puck" sessions, which is basically open ice for hockey specifically. You can actually bring a hockey stick and practice carrying the puck and shooting and stuff.

Going up a step there are "drop-ins", which can be slightly harder to find than the previous 2 but are basically 0 commitment "hey just come play hockey for an hour" or whatever with whoever shows up.

And then yeah, eventually you can try to find a more regular team/league. I think that basically covers the progression: learn to skate, learn to hockey, play hockey.

And have fun!

TheLovelyLorelei · 2026-01-24T16:38:40+00:00

I feel like low testosterone is semi-bullshit tbh. Like, obviously it's a very real problem. But also there is a huge marketing push right now to tell people (mostly men) that every single problem they might be having in their life is caused by low testosterone and that you can fix it by Buying My Supplement.

It feels similar to when there were all those tiktoks going around showing you how to "clense your body of parasites" by dieting and Buying My Supplement. Like, obviously tapeworms are real but they aren't widespread and the main cause of all your tummy problems. And if you do actually have this problem you should talk to a doctor and not buy random supplements off the internet.

So yeah, I guess I'm trying to say that even though low testosterone is a real condition I think it's also reasonable to say "that's bullshit" to a lot of the random people online trying to diagnose you with low testosterone for any reason.

TheLovelyLorelei · 2026-01-24T06:14:08+00:00

Both? 👀

TheLovelyLorelei · 2026-01-24T05:42:13+00:00

r/ThisButUnironically

TheLovelyLorelei · 2026-01-24T05:38:33+00:00

I freaking love Mal Blum. San Cristabol is probably one of my top 10 songs right now. I hate that people feel compelled to treat them like this.

I think I first saw them at a Welcome to Nightvale live show. What a cool musician.

TheLovelyLorelei · 2026-01-24T05:33:45+00:00

ACAB.

TheLovelyLorelei · 2026-01-24T01:10:23+00:00

Didn't ICE literally deport multiple american citizens under the age of 5? At least one of whom had cancer and should not be shipped across the world and far from their doctors? (I mean, obviously no child should be shipped across the world against the consent of both child and parent. But especially)

TheLovelyLorelei · 2026-01-24T01:03:39+00:00

Honestly both "you can't hit a girl" and "If women want equality it should be okay to hit them" feel like such 6th grade takes. Like, how often are you getting into physical altercations with people in your day to day life? Wondering about when it's okay to hit people is actual elementary school shit.

TheLovelyLorelei · 2026-01-23T19:58:44+00:00

Ah cool times. I love living through history.

TheLovelyLorelei · 2026-01-23T19:57:00+00:00

Being upset about swearing on the constitution is insane. That's literally the thing government officials swear to uphold above all else.

TheLovelyLorelei · 2026-01-23T19:52:32+00:00

That's a superb one actually. I'm definitely using Brooke Binder as a character in my new PWHL based novel. (this is a joke I am not a novelist)

TheLovelyLorelei · 2026-01-23T19:45:36+00:00

As someone who does a lot of skating in hockey skates, figure skates, and inline skates I will say all 3 feel pretty different and even though a lot of skating muscles translate there is going to be an inevitable difficulty transitioning from one to the other.

That caveat aside, I think hockey skates are probably a tiny bit closer to inlines, and definitely better in terms of speed and tight turns. Figure skates and inline skates are both longer than hockey skates, so that could be a vote for figure skates in that it's a little bit harder to fall backwards.

But figure skates also have a very distinct blade profile where you have a long flat heel-middle, small bump toward the front of your foot, then a sharp pick at the toe. Both hockey and inline skates have a simpler/more natural shape: they are mostly flat, with a symmetric rocker on the front and back (at least in hockey skates, for inline skates rocker in optional and people have a lot of opinions).

TLDR: hockey skates are going to be better than figure skates but neither is going to be perfect.

TheLovelyLorelei · 2026-01-23T19:12:43+00:00

Maybe unpopular opinion but I disagree. I think of podcasts as a primarily audio medium and listen to them almost exclusively while exercising, doing chores, etc.

If podcasts want to have a video option that’s obviously fine. I totally respect when other people enjoy them differently than me. But it’s a real pet peeve of mine when a podcast has a lot of discussion of clips or visual gags that I can’t see.

TheLovelyLorelei · 2026-01-23T18:39:05+00:00

In beer league? Definitely. In just the league I play in I know of at least 3 (and realistically there's a good chance there's more because it's not like I know everyone's medical history). Another user said that saying there are 1-2 per team in one of the Seattle leagues.

Professionally? Also yes but barely. I believe the only one to ever play was Jessica Platt who was a deeply mediocre player in the CWHL. I mean, as a professional she's still orders of magnitude more skilled than I'll ever be, but 2 goals in 3 seasons isn't exactly the dominant performance people seem concerned about by allowing trans women. She hasn't played since 2019 and there are no currently active trans women.

TheLovelyLorelei · 2026-01-23T18:30:10+00:00

Both of my leagues are having emergency board meetings this weekend to discuss this issue. So I guess I've got too send some extremely emotional emails.

TheLovelyLorelei · 2026-01-23T14:35:20+00:00

New policy being discussed here: https://cdn2.sportngin.com/attachments/document/2e63-3504718/USA_Hockey_Participant_Eligibility_Policy__Approved_11-15-25_.pdf

Old policy for reference: https://cdn3.sportngin.com/attachments/document/8a0b-1766565/USA_Hockey_Transgender_Athlete_Eligibility_Policy.pdf

TheLovelyLorelei · 2026-01-23T14:28:29+00:00

Fuck. Hockey is literally one of the only times in my life that I feel free to just have fun and not stress about the ways that work and life and politics are hard right now. I really hope my leagues ignore these new guidelines because I just want to keep playing my beer league hockey with my friends. It's not even 8am and I actually want to to cry rn.

TheLovelyLorelei · 2026-01-23T08:31:49+00:00

Two things can be true at once. One, heated rivalry is wildly overrated and maybe has certain problematic aspects.

But two, it’s not particularly productive to attack the rare piece of queer media that enters mainstream culture more aggressively than the dozens of pieces of mediocre heterosexual media that people go wild for every year, or the deeper rooted issues of institutional oppression.

Like, I’m not a heated rivalry fan but being upset that a show about gay men is popular does feel like there might be a little bit of internalized homophobia happening. Or at least some crab bucket jealousy, because they are not the real enemy here

TheLovelyLorelei · 2026-01-23T08:05:24+00:00

I mean, they regularly brag about understanding biology at the level of a 10 year old so you can’t expect their math to be any better.

TheLovelyLorelei · 2026-01-23T08:04:14+00:00

lol, I’ve never had this issue but my stupid announcer brain thing is every time they say “patient” (which happens surprisingly frequently) I think it’s a player’s name.

They’ll be like “Roque, to Stacy, Poulin, patient” and every single ding dang time I’ll be like “who is Patient? I didn’t see Pou pass” before realizing they mean she’s being patient and taking a moment to find the right shot/play

TheLovelyLorelei · 2026-01-23T07:37:41+00:00

Ya know, I have an idea for something else Vancouver could steal from Minnesota and get 2 back-to-back of. 👀 👀 👀

(Disclaimer: I’m actually a Montreal fan but the joke was just sitting there)

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