Hockey Canada changes rules to make minor hockey more inclusive for all genders

Hockey culture has changed a lot in the past few decades, to the point where some parts of the game aren't even recognizable today. 

The most obvious changes are, of course, on the ice where the players are bigger, stronger and faster now than they've ever been. The pace of the game is played at breakneck speed these days and there's certainly less of a premium placed on physicality and intimidation now than there ever has been. Off the ice, changes are happening quickly too. 

In an effort to be more inclusive to participants of all genders, Hockey Canada has enacted new dressing room policies that essentially state "minor aged" played (under 18) must not get dressed or undressed in dressing rooms. In particular, players will not be allowed to dress down past their "base layer" clothing and may not strip down naked or to their underwear while in a hockey dressing room. Now... if you're at all like me, you think this is absolutely ridiculous. I'm not allowed to get dressed in a dressing room? What's next? No waiting in the waiting room?

Players will also be required to wear a bathing suit while showering in the dressing room. Seriously...

To me, this is looking for a problem where there really is no problem.

I understand that there are co-ed minor hockey teams with both males and females on the same team, but this has been the case for decades now. Personally, I played for a few years with a girl on my minor hockey team and she was treated no differently from the rest of my teammates. She dressed in her base layer at home and stripped down to her base layer and then changed fully in the bathroom. Easy. No prying eyes, no uncomfortable jokes. Honestly, it was a good teaching moment for me as a young boy to see girls not as some alien creature, but just as another person playing the sport I loved. Eventually, our captain proposed a team policy where we had to show a little modesty and get changed as discreetly as possible. This policy worked for our team, but I'm not sure a league-wide policy would have the same effect. Rules like this have a way of just bringing out the worst types of offenders and giving them something to argue against.

My opinion: Leave the dressing room alone. A good team will sort out any issues it has inside that room before they ever stand a chance on the ice.