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Topic spans: 1928 - 2003
Fair Game: Pioneering Canadian Women in Sports
Throughout history, "ladies" were discouraged from participating in team sports because it was thought competition would lead to "manly" behaviours. But thanks to pioneering athletes such as Bobbie Rosenfeld, Nancy Greene and Hayley Wickenheiser, young women now have the freedom to participate and excel in any sport — be it track, skiing or hockey. These women not only excelled in their chosen fields but were instrumental in shattering stereotypes of the female athlete.
Topic image of Canada's 1924 women's Olympic basketball team reproduced with the permission of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.
9 television clips
11 radio clips
Ab turns out to be a girl
Broadcast Date: Dec. 20, 1956
When "Ab" turns out to be "Abby," it makes headlines. Abby Hoffman is the star defenceman in the Toronto boy's Junior A hockey league. Her "secret" is discovered after officials take a closer look at her birth certificate. Nine-year-old Hoffman tells CBC TV that the media fuss around her is "a lot of nonsense!" While she's allowed to stay and finish the season, Hoffman hangs up her skates soon after. It's her first experience of the limitations facing women in sports.Like Bobbie Rosenfeld before her, Hoffman turns to running, specializing in the 800-metre run. She competes in four Olympics (1964, 1968, 1972 and 1976). Hoffman wins the gold medal at the 1963 and 1966 Commonwealth Games as well as the gold at the 1971 Pan American Games.
Ab turns out to be a girl
• Abby Hoffman was born on Feb. 11, 1947, in Toronto, Ont.• Hoffman has been active in bringing issues relating to women and sports to the mainstream. In 1981 she became the first woman director-general of Sport Canada. That same year she also became the first woman to be named to the executive of the Canadian Olympic Association.
• Hoffman wrote a fitness column for Chatelaine magazine from 1980 to 1982. Her writing was praised for being factual and informative, different from the conventional images of attractive, thin women in tight leotards.
• Hoffman was awarded the Order of Canada in 1982.
• In 2003, Hoffman was named senior advisor with Health Canada.
Ab turns out to be a girl
Medium: Radio
Program: Assignment
Broadcast Date: Dec. 20, 1956
Guest(s): Abby Hoffman
Host: Maria Barrett
Reporter: Ed Fitkin
Duration: 2:35
Last updated:
May 8, 2008
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20 clips in this topic . page
Radio
3:06
Sept. 9, 1954
It's September 1954 and 16-year-old Marilyn Bell conquers Lake Ontario to emerge a celebrity.
Television
1:50
Sept. 23, 1992
Manon Rhéaume becomes the first woman to play in the NHL.
Ab turns out to be a girl.
The CBC Digital Archives Website.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Last updated: May 8, 2008.
[Page consulted on Feb. 15, 2012.]