Professional Women's Hockey Players Association

This article is about a non-profit advocacy organization. For the PWHL labour union, see Professional Women's Hockey League Players Association.

Professional Women's Hockey Players Association
AbbreviationPWHPA
FoundedMay 20, 2019
HeadquartersPhiladelphia, United States
Location
  • Canada
    United States
Operations Consultant
Jayna Hefford
Advisory Consultant
Ilana Kloss
WebsitePWHPA.com

The Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for the promotion of professional women's ice hockey.[1] It was founded in May 2019 following the dissolution of the Canadian Women's Hockey League. PWHPA members expressed dissatisfaction with the operations of the existing professional National Women's Hockey League (renamed the Premier Hockey Federation in 2021) and vowed to boycott existing women's leagues and to work towards the establishment of a unified, financially sustainable professional league. From 2019 to 2023, the PWHPA organized a series of exhibition seasons, known as the Dream Gap tours, to generate support towards its goal.

After partnering with Mark Walter and Billie Jean King in 2022, the PWHPA organized a formal players union in 2023 and negotiated a collective bargaining agreement. Mark Walter Group and BJK Enterprises then purchased the Premier Hockey Federation and wound down its operations before announcing the launch of the new Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). The PWHL began play in 2024 with six teams in Canada and the United States, marking a major victory for the PWHPA.

  1. ^ Hayden, Zoë (May 29, 2019). "Women's Hockey: What's a Union? (plus, a note on our coverage)". The Victory Press. Archived from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved December 19, 2019.