The Unwritten Codes In Ice Hockey

Ice hockey has had a developing history in terms of rules, regulations, and the unwritten code. When examining ice hockey as a sport, there are differences between how the sport is conducted when comparing men’s and women’s ice hockey. Men’s hockey allows for men to hit one another whereas women’s hockey allows for body contact. Although similar, there are some differences in unwritten codes when men’s and women’s ice hockey is compared. For the purpose of this paper, we will examine the women’s hockey aspect of the unwritten code. This paper will compare sportsmanship to gamesmanship, examine the competitive orientation and coaching orientation in ice hockey, and will discuss whether ice hockey is a fair or foul sport. Using personal accounts

Ice hockey falls into this paradox of sport when dissecting the good and bad of the sport. In D.Stanley Eitzen’s book, Fair and Foul: Beyond the myths and paradoxes of sport, he starts to uncover the ethical truths behind sport and the organizations who run them. Eitzen (2012) explains that sport embodies contradictory elements as it increasingly pulls people apart on one hand and pulls them together on the other. There are some factors that divides the fair or foul paradox off the ice such as class, and race. There is a large gap between those who can play ice hockey and those who cannot. Class is an important component to consider as many children of lower economic families are unable to afford equipment, ice times, team fees, and travel costs associated to the game. Children from families with limited economic resources tend to participate in sports that require little equipment and are publicly funded, such as community youth programs, and school sports (Eitzen, 2012). Race is another paradox in ice hockey, as it is a predominately white sport. There have been some people of other ethnic minorities that have found success at the higher level of hockey, however as the gap between whites and African Americans and Latinos is widening in terms of income, wealth, education, and employment (Eitzen, 2012), the sport has trends to continue to be dominated by the white race. The paradox of the sport creates a foul position on the fair or foul paradigm based on the arguments that the sport is dominated in two directions based on class and