Morgan Bennett is an educator, coach and mom to four hockey players.
Zach Werenski seemingly skates effortlessly, finding the tiniest lanes to pass and shoot.
I wish the talented Blue Jackets defenseman were effortless when he failed at apologizing for laughing at some of the world’s finest athletes: Team USA women’s hockey.
It would be hard to forget watching Zach win gold Feb. 22 with Team USA at the Olympics. I screamed with other parents in the OhioHealth Chiller North lobby in Lewis Center.
I hoped to watch in a less chaotic spot, but that weekend was the championship tournament for the Blue Jackets Hockey League, and I coached three teams this year.
So many kids wear that number 8 for Zach. When I see the number 8, I tease them by asking, “Are you an Ovechkin fan or a Werenski fan?” I know the answer — it’s for Werenski.
Girls on the ice
Girls’ and women’s hockey is on the rise around the nation. The Blue Jackets League is co-ed, and many of these little number 8s are girls.
In every age group, girls’ increase in participation is higher than that of boys. Girls are becoming a bigger and bigger part of hockey every year, and I consider it a privilege to help them find their place on the ice
I was recently part of a girls’ hockey event that hosted 60 girls and still had a waiting list. In addition to the female coaches from the Blue Jackets Hockey League, the female 16U AAA Blue Jackets were there to help. One of them said, “Wow, I have never seen so many girls playing hockey in one place.”
‘Not a great moment’ for Zach Werenski
While girls’ hockey is flourishing here in Columbus, the lack of respect for the Team USA women’s hockey team, who play this sport — on the same ice, for the same 60 minutes, with the same gold medal result — shown by Werenski and the men’s hockey team has put an early tarnish on those gold medals.
I was still hoarse from screaming over Zach’s “golden apple” assist on the overtime gold-winning goal when President Donald Trump called the Team USA locker room. He made a joke demeaning women, which all women know to expect from him, and all the players were shown laughing.
“It’s not a great moment. It doesn’t look great, so I understand that. But, you know, I think deep down, they know how we feel about them and how much support we have for them,” Zach said when The Athletic reporter Aaron Portzline asked about it. “I just apologize for the way it looks, but I think deep down they know how much support we have for them.”
The bar for men in sports is basically a stick lying on the ground, but somehow the USA men’s hockey team is just stubbing toes and tripping over it.
Every woman has had a man say, “Oh, it wasn’t what it SOUNDED like, you know how I REALLY feel.” I can watch the video of the men laughing, but I cannot see how Zach Werenski feels, deep down.
The damage Zach Werenski inflicted
Apologizing is really easy. You state what you did was hurtful, you take responsibility for your action, acknowledge the hurt caused and explain how you will act differently in the future.
Werenski’s “apology” does not do any of those things.
He apologized for how it looked but didn’t own up that laughing at the women who won the gold medal hurt not only them, who maybe do know deep down how much he supported them, but the girls of every age who look up to him for his hockey skill and character.
That inflicts real damage both on the girls who want to be like him and now aren’t sure hockey has a place for them, and the boys who think it’s OK to make fun of girls as long as they aren’t around.
A real apology would go like this: “I’m sorry I laughed at the USA women’s hockey team. It made light of their amazing gold medal win. I realize this genuinely hurt the almost 200,000 women who play hockey in the United States. I hope to do better in respecting and supporting women in the future.”
We, the girls I coach, the women I coach with and the women who play hockey, are waiting for an apology.
Morgan Bennett is an educator with a master’s degree from Ohio State University and mom to four hockey players. She is a longtime supporter of women in sports.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Girls, women’s hockey players deserve apology from Zach Werenski | Opinion
Reporting by Morgan Bennett, Guest Columnist / The Columbus Dispatch
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