Fran Rider is a Canadian who has made a substantial impact on the growth and development of the modern game of female ice hockey and is one of the founders of the Ontario Women's Hockey Association. Rider has been both an ice hockey player and organizer for the women's category of the sport. She began playing ice hockey in 1967 with the Brampton Canadettes, the predecessor to the Brampton Thunder. Ontario Women's Hockey Association (OWHA) The Ontario Women's Hockey Association was formed in 1975 by Cookie Cartwright and was formed to generate interest in women's ice hockey. About a decade later, Rider would become the association's executive director. Organized women's ice hockey competition Canadian Rider set up a Canadian national championship for women's ice hockey in 1982, called the Esso Women's Hockey Nationals, which was the Canadian senior women's championship from 1982 to 2008. With the evolution of the Nationals into a professional tournament, Hockey Canada elected to discontinue it in 2008 and replace it with a national female midget championship known as the Esso Cup. International Rider was instrumental in helping organize the 1987 World Women's Hockey Tournament, which was hosted in Toronto, Ontario. The Ontario Women's Hockey Association hosted the tournament. However, the tournament was not recognized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and was therefore considered an unofficial event. During the tournament, representatives from participating nations met to establish a strategy to lobby the IIHF for the creation of a Women's World Championship. In 1990, Rider helped organize the first IIHF-sanctioned tournament for women's ice hockey which was held in Ottawa, Ontario. The 1990 Women’s World Championships did not receive any financial support from the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association was the national governing body of amateur ice hockey in Canada from 1914 until 1994, when it merged with Hockey Canada. Recognition for women's excellence in sport When Angela James was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 8, 2010, James said that without Rider, she would never have made it into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Rider was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2015, and in 2016, was made a member of the Order of Ontario. Along with Scotty Bowman and Murray Costello, Rider was among the 2017 class named to the Order of Hockey in Canada. Accolades The Fran Rider Cup is an award named in