MINNEAPOLIS — Kendall Coyne gath-ered the puck and was in the open ice almostinstantly, darting toward the University ofMinnesota goalie Sidney Peters. Faced withan unforgiving predicament, Peterssprawled out to no avail. Coyne went to herbackhand and easily scored, a trademarkgoal from one of the world’s fastest players.

Last year, such skills earned Coyne thePatty Kazmaier Award as the nation’s top col-lege women’s hockey player while she wasplaying for Northeastern.

On this night in January, she was compet-ing for the Minnesota Whitecaps, a collectionof unpaid Midwestern hockey nomads whobarnstorm against college teams. Coyne oc-casionally shares shifts with players likeHannah Brandt, Stephanie Anderson, Joce-lyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique La-moureux-Morando, all recent members ofthe United States national team.

The Whitecaps are considered a profes-

sional team, but they do not play in the Cana-dian Women’s Hockey League or the Na-tional Women’s Hockey League, the sport’stwo prominent leagues. Created in 2004, theWhitecaps have remained independentthrough much of their history. At times, thatunconventional arrangement has nearly ledto the team’s dissolution, but as the White-caps persevered, their members were able tocultivate a nuanced view of the women’shockey world shaping around them.

After the game against Minnesota, the La-moureuxs, twin sisters who are two-timeOlympic silver medalists, spent the night atthe house of Brandt’s parents just outside theTwin Cities. The next morning, the threeWhitecaps car-pooled to another exhibition.

The two-hour drive to the University ofMinnesota-Duluth is a straightforward pathup Interstate 35. Many Whitecaps see thebest future for women’s hockey as a similarlyclear route: a merger between the C.W.H.L.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY TIM GRUBER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Nomads in No Hurry to Change

The Whitecaps Chelsey Rosenthal, No. 4 top, celebrated a goal during a gameagainst the University of Minnesota at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis on Jan. 6.Above from left: Lindsey Brown, Kalli Funk and Haylea Schmid.

The Minnesota Whitecaps Offer an Independent, if Unpaid,Alternative to the Two Women’s Professional Leagues

By SETH BERKMAN

Continued on Page B11

C M Y K Yxxx,2017-01-21,B,007,Bs-BW,E2

SCORES ANALYSIS COMMENTARY SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 2017 B7

0 Y

8 PRO BASKETBALL

A Wizards coach is fined forhis actions against the Knicks.11 SKIING

Safety concerns spur changesat a fast course in Austria.

9 TENNIS

Roger Federerchannels his past atthe Australian Open,at least for one night.

It seems highly unlikely that the 121.92-meter home run would gain any moretraction now than it did during baseball’sflirtation with metric distances on out-field fences in the 1970s. And a televisionaudience might be more confused thandelirious if it was announced thatStephen Curry had just hit a buzzer-beat-er from 10.67 meters instead of 35 feet.

The hoariest of clichés also appearsafe, too. Football is in no danger of be-coming a game of centimeters.

But track and field long ago loosenedits ties to the feet and inches of theBritish imperial system, and amongtrack events, only the seldom-run milepersists as a revered imperial distance.

Yet within American track and fieldthere are conflicting views about howpervasive the metric system should be-come. One side calls the imperial systemantiquated and says it should be aban-doned in favor of international unifor-mity. The other side says familiarity isneeded to preserve history and maintain

relevance for a sport that is robust in par-ticipation but struggles for spectator in-terest outside of the Olympics.

The latest organization to enter the de-bate is the Florida High School AthleticAssociation. As the outdoor track seasonopens in February, Florida high schoolswill apparently become the first in thecountry to measure field events usingthe metric system, as they have done forall track events since 1990, introducing itfor all district, regional and state trackand field championships.

Metric measurements for the throw-ing and jumping events are being en-couraged for regular-season meets thisyear. That means a 15-foot pole vault willbe recorded as 4.57 meters. A shot-putthrow of 55 feet 8 ½ inches will be meas-ured and announced as 16.98 meters.Long jumpers and javelin throwers,among others, will face a similarly newworld in which, supporters argue, therewill be more accurate measurementsand, thus, few ties.

Going Extra 1,609 Meters,Florida Extends Metric Use

By JERÉ LONGMAN

Continued on Page B9

Bill Henfey Park, three blocks from the beach in the New Jerseyshore town of North Wildwood, is a placid, grassy rectangular ex-panse with a children’s playground tucked in the corner.

But on summer days throughout Matt Ryan’s life, the park hasbeen the site of feisty, heated pickup football games with 20 to 30 ofRyan’s cousins, brothers, uncles and in-laws.

The summer games are not for the meek. Ryan, the Atlanta Fal-cons’ All-Pro quarterback, has two brothers who were college quar-terbacks. His 6-foot-7, 310-pound first cousin Mike McGlinchey is aleft tackle at Notre Dame who could one day be a top N.F.L. draftpick. His uncle John Loughery played at Boston College. The ex-tended family, all living in the Philadelphia area, includes scores ofhigh-level athletes.

“There’s a lot of testosterone down at that Shore house,” saidLoughery, who was a teammate of Doug Flutie’s at Boston College.“It’s pretty intense.”

Henfey Park is not where Ryan earned the nickname Matty Ice,a reference to a fearless, swashbuckling style that has led to memo-rable late-game rallies and victories. But it may be where he honed

Ryan Flies HighWhile Staying

Under the RadarBy BILL PENNINGTON

Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan honed hisskills and style during summer pickup gameswith his family in North Wildwood, N.J.

GREGORY SHAMUS/GETTY IMAGES

Continued on Page B8

N.F.L. PLAYOFFS