Episode 61: Erica Ayala women’s hockey now

New York-based sportswriter Erica Ayala joins Hear Her Sports podcast this week to talk about what’s going on in women’s hockey these days. If you haven’t been following along as the Canadian league closed and North American players stand up for better pay and conditions, Erica will bring you up to speed and if you have been following she gets into some of the details. possible outcomes, and how we can think about that in relation to what’s happening in other women’s sports.

Erica Ayala is a sportswriter, broadcaster, and podcaster. She serves as a color analyst and rinkside reporter for the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) and writes the weekly hockey column for The IX Newsletter. She covers women’s basketball for High Post Hoops and the new WNBA vertical at The Athletic. Erica has contributed women's sports coverage to espnW, The Guardian, The Hockey News, ThinkProgress, WBAI Sports Qualified (radio), and more.

In addition to sports, Erica is a youth justice advocate. She has worked for over ten years with the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools®, a summer literacy program that seeks to fosters a love for reading and promote literacy in communities throughout the United States. She currently works as the Project Manager of the GPS4Kids Collective Impact initiative at the Westchester Children’s Association.

Erica received her B.A in Political Science, with a minor in African-American Studies from Elon University. She is an Elon Softball letter winner and a 2006 Arthur Ashe Sports Scholar. She completed her Master of Public Administration degree at the NYU Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service in May 2016.

This episode is really fun because Erica has insider’s perspective and has talked to players recently and over the years. As she says, emotions are hot. Stay tuned for reasons for that and for Erica’s vision of a long-term ideal.

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The Athletic
Erica Ayala website
Erica Ayala Twitter
Erica Ayala Instagram
Hockey News
The Equalizer
The Victory Press
Dani Rylan
Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL)
National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL)
Kelli Stack
Pegula Sports and Entertainment
Lyndsey D’Arcangelo
#forthegame
Women Start Union, Hope to Have New League, May 20, 2019, Emily Kaplan, ESPN
Devil’s Ending Partnership with NWHL’s Riveters, May 17, 2019, Emily Kaplan, ESPN
Hilary Knight on selling tickets
Kendall Coyne Schofield
Michelle Picard
Q&A with NWHLPA’s ED discusses her perspective on the #ForThe Game movement, May 4, 2019, Sydney Kuntz, The Ice Garden
Melissa Burgess
Running tally of players who have signed NWHL
Erica Ayala & Mike Murphy The Founding 4 Podcast
Mike Murphy’s Women’s Hockey Analytics, August 27, 2018, The Ice Garden
Kimberly Sass on starting a new league, May 5, 2019, AP News
Madison Packer
USA Hockey
Hockey Canada
An open letter to USA Hockey: Be Bold For Change, March 17, 2017, Paul Wheeler, SB Nation
99ers – The 1999 US World Cup Soccer Team
Brenda Andress 1st Commissioner of CWHL
Cathie Campbell
30 for 30, Season 4, Ep6, Back Pass
NWHL releases attendance numbers, March 29, 2019, Erica Ayala
Interim CWHL commissioner Jayna Hefford eyes unified women’s hockey league, July 24, 2018, Donna Spencer, The Globe and Mail
Behind the Scenes with Big East Boss Val Ackerman (1st President of the WNBA), April 2, 2019, Hannah Withiam, The Athletic
Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association PWHPA