Young girl stands up for women in sports, becomes first to be included in new NHL video game
Being truly passionate about something that you love will eventually bear fruit, which is just a matter of time in the case of 14-year-old, Lexi Peters, a teenage girl who had deep interest in playing sport video games, especially ice hockey, and decided
to take steps to include female players on the roster.
Instead of just sitting around and realising that something not there will never be there, which is what most people do, Lexi took steps and contacted the creators of these video games, in this case, Electronic Arts (EA), the maker of labels like NHL Live.
Peters was clueless on what she could do in order for the gaming giants to listen to what she had to say but was inspired by what her father said out in the blue.
“I asked my dad, ‘Why aren’t there girls in the NHL video game’”? And he said, ‘I don’t know, write a letter.’ So, I did”, Lexi told the Globe and Mail from her home in Buffalo, N.Y.
Write a letter was exactly what the youngster planned on doing and sent it directly to the top-guns of the multibillion dollar industry.
She wrote: “It is unfair to women and girl hockey players around the world, many of them who play and enjoy your game. I have created a character of myself, except I have to be represented by a male and that’s not fun”.
For Lexi, it was more than just being able to play the video games with a female player instead of the usual male superstars that everyone is accustomed to. It was the symbolism of showing that females from all around the world were just as competitive and
enthusiastic of playing such video games, just as much as their male counterparts are.
Surprisingly, the typed letter had reached president of EA Sports and forwarded it to David Littman, the lead producer of the company’s NHL videogame. He responded with astonishment to as why their huge company had not taken such steps earlier.
Now when the latest edition of the game will be released, EA has decided to use Lexi as a default template for female players and can further customise if desired, which in the end is a huge victory for a dedicated ice hockey fan.
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