BUFFALO, N.Y. — The landscape of major sports is continuing to change. With it, the rise of women’s sports. The Professional Women’s Hockey League is in year two of their six-team format but taking the show on the road to inspire.
“I attribute it in everything in our sport to, you know, women in general,” said Olivia Zafuto before she and her Boston Fleet teammates and the growing PWHL made their mark on Buffalo.
“We’re fortunate, obviously, to finally have this league that we’re all playing in,” she said. “We have a CBA and things have been, you know, just really positive in the progress even from year one to year two is really awesome.”
The PWHL Takeover Tour is bringing the fast-paced women’s game to markets without teams yet, and if you ask Olivia or her dad Steve, it’s couldn’t come soon enough.
“She can attest to that,” Steve said. “You know, how great it is for young women, young girls to see her, you know, achieve the level she has. But, boy, back in the day, she couldn’t find a high school to play for.”
The opportunities are growing, hoping to grow up to be your favorite players remains.
“As a kid I wanted to be Maxim Afinogenov,” she said. “I’m a defender, but like, I thought I was going to go to the NHL and be Maxim, kind of, and, and you see people now like trying to take, you know, or learn something from Cale Makar, Rasmus Dahlin, like some of those really offensive defensemen who can really play defense too.”
Olivia and the players on all six PWHL teams are now the role models for so many lacing up skates across the country — and it’s not just the young ladies.
“A group of boys, there was a team, they came up and they were like, ‘whoa, like, are you guys in the PWHL,’” she recalled. “‘Oh, that’s so cool. Can we have a picture? Your autograph?’ And it was like one of those moments you’re like, whoa. Like people are noticing. It’s not just young girls, it’s young boys. It’s kids aspiring to be professional athletes.”
So parents like Steve have more opportunities to support their kids and see them achieve.
“I mean, I think it just goes to show how this game, this league, is growing. You know, even hockey purists watch the game,” said Steve. “Give it a chance. It’s very entertaining. It’s very competitive. It’s physical. And you’re going to see a lot of passion. You’re going to see a lot of passion from all the all the girls, all the women.”
It’s not lost on any of them how much a trip to KeyBank Center in Buffalo or repping their new team colors and identities this year means.
“Everyone has a different role. And obviously, you know, we do this because we want them to have somewhere to play and somewhere to dream to be when they’re older.”
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