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Last week, at a watch party event to recognize the inaugural season of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) was named honorary captain of the women’s hockey team PWHL Boston. The recognition took place at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC and the gesture was meant to recognize the strong relationship between Canada and Massachusetts.

Rep. Pressley delivered brief remarks at the event and was joined by Canadian Ambassador Kirsten Hillman, PWHL Senior VP of Business Operations Amy Scheer, Consul General of Canada in Boston Bernadette Jordan, Consul General of Canada in New York Tom Clark, and Ontario’s Representative in Washington, DC David Paterson.

In Congress, Rep. Pressley was the lead sponsor of legislation to honor hockey legend Willie O’Ree with the Congressional Gold Medal, which passed Congress in January 2022. Rep. Pressley has also been a champion for the Equal Rights Amendment, equity in sports, equal pay for women athletes, and more.

Rep. Pressley’s remarks:

Good evening everyone!

First just because I can’t get over this, I’ll hold it up here. It’s such an honor. It really is an honor to be here.I just want to thank Ambassador Hillman, Ms. Scheer, Representative Patterson, our Consuls General for the invitation and for the honor.

I’m really thrilled to be here to recognize the special and strong relationship enjoyed by Canada and Massachusetts, to celebrate the PWHL’s inaugural season. As the Representative for the Massachusetts 7th Congressional District, I’m honored to be here and to be named honorary captain of PWHL Boston.

I’d be remiss and that this is the month of March, it is Women’s History Month, and so I just want to affirm that we belong everywhere, we can break ice ceilings, barriers, and certainly being the mom of a 15-year-old daughter, who — a 15-year-old girl who is also a student athlete.

Being a girl, being a woman, is certainly not for punks. Daily, we are in the fight and doing the work. It’s hard to believe we still have not even enshrined gender equality in our Constitution. We’re still fighting for the era. But that being said, being a girl, being a woman, it is our superpower too. And we can clap on that.

Although I don’t play hockey, I must say, I feel an emotional sort of kinship to it being in politics, because that is certainly often as bruising as the ice can be. But throughout my five years in Congress, I’ve consistently championed equity in sports, from fighting for equal pay for women athletes to honoring NHL trailblazers like Willie O’Ree of the Boston Bruins, the first Black man to play in the NHL.

And I am just truly inspired by the women who are leading this inaugural PWHL season as history makers in their own right, from Hilary Knight to Northeastern alumnas Alina Müller and Aerin Frankel. These women are world class athletes charting a path, truly, for generations to come, as they wear the Boston jersey.

And since we are at the Canadian Embassy tonight, I have to give a special shout out to Boston’s own Jillian Dempsey, who was now playing for Montreal. We miss you, Jillian! And we are proud of you, too.

So thank you for the invitation to join today to everyone who was gathered here to celebrate.

Let’s be clear: everybody watches women’s sports.