It’s been a big year for women’s ice hockey in America – Team USA won gold at the Winter Olympics and their victory over Canada in the final broke viewing records. Coming off the increased profile from that victory, the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) announced that they’d be expanding to include a fifth team, the Minnesota Whitecaps. But despite these gains, the league is at risk of alienating a large part of their existing fanbase — something a new, small league can’t afford to do.

The most recent controversy began when the Whitecaps announced the signing of several new players, including forward Lauren Barnes. Shortly thereafter, screenshots of tweets Barnes had “liked” from her Twitter account began making the rounds on Twitter. These tweets included a tweet from conservative painter Jon McNaughton that said, “I’ve had enough of Jesus Christ being kicked out of everything, replaced by LGBTQ and Islamic propaganda” and a xenophobic tweet from President Trump that supported building a wall along the Mexican border, and trotted out the old cliches about America being “under siege”.

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Barnes became the most recent athlete to see her social media activity come under scrutiny — an issue that multiple Major League Baseball players have dealt with since July. For her part, Barnes deleted her Twitter account. But when NWHL fans expressed concerns on the team’s Instagram and Twitter posts about Barnes’ signing, the team not only deleted those comments but blocked fans from their accounts, and eventually deleted the posts altogether. Neither the Whitecaps nor the NWHL have released statements about Barnes’ social media content, or about the Whitecaps response to the criticism about it (and neither responded to requests for comment for this story). Compare that with MLB players and teams that have issued apologies and a commitment to sensitivity training for the players who tweeted offensive things. Many fans are upset by what they see as unacceptable behavior from the team’s accounts, and the larger cultural problem that Barnes’ political beliefs signal within women’s hockey.

Megan Brown, a sports social media consultant who consults with professional athletes, says that the team made several missteps when it came to how they’ve handled this situation. “Viewed most simply, [blocking fans] expresses to fans that the team doesn’t care about them or their opinions,” she said via email. In some situations, Brown says, “I can understand hiding or deleting comments. Teams deal daily with people leaving offensive or negative messages on every single post… The Lauren Barnes situation is a bit different. Was the team aware of these tweets before they signed her? Would it have made a difference?”

This is not the first time an NWHL player’s political opinions have caused controversy. Metropolitan Rivers forward Rebecca Russo posted a photo on her Instagram account wearing a Trump shirt, which she indicated had been gifted to her by teammate Courtney Burke (even if the gift was a joke, Russo is likely smart enough to know how it would be taken by some people). While Russo is entitled to her political opinions, it raised eyebrows when she blocked fans who criticized her.

Erica Ayala, a women’s hockey writer and NWHL analyst, says that none of this is particularly surprising, given the fact that the world of elite hockey is very rich and very white. In other words, it makes sense that many of the players in women’s hockey make up some of the 52% of white women who voted for Donald Trump. But there seems to be a disconnect between the sport and their fanbase, which consists of a lot of progressives, members of the LGBT community and people of color.

Which isn’t to say that the NWHL hasn’t tried, on some level, to be explicit about inclusion. They marched in Pride this year, and they were on the forefront of having a policy that allowed trans men to play in the league — though their hand was forced when Harrison Brown decided he wanted to be able to both play hockey and live openly as a man. There was the #BeBoldForChange campaign that arose after the USWNT went on strike to increase their pay, and the NHL’s “Hockey is For Everyone” campaign. But to many fans, it’s not enough.

Zoë Hayden, editor of the Victory Press, says women’s hockey had a chance to differentiate itself from the men’s game, which has struggled to have conversations about inclusion and supporting marginalized communities. “I don’t think the leagues have been willing to speak [more explicitly about activism], and that’s the greatest disappointment of women’s hockey, in particular, because they have this great opportunity to be different than men’s hockey,” she says. “And they won’t do it because it’s being headed up by a bunch of white women who don’t think about these things empathetically or thoughtfully enough.”

If they wanted to do things differently, Ayala points out that they already have a great example in the WNBA. On Pride Night at Mohegan Sun Arena, the Connecticut Sun hosted a panel that included out players – Layshia Clarendon from the Sun and Brittney Griner for the Phoenix Mercury – and hosted by non-binary espnW writer Katie Barnes. The New York Liberty have hosted panels on racial justice, including conversations with activists, law enforcement, and players. And this year, the league launched their “Take A Seat, Take A Stand” campaign to raise money for causes the players cared about. Of course, the difference is in part because the WNBA is a much more racially diverse league than the NWHL.

Alice Bell, host of the women’s hockey podcast Unofficial Woho Radio, says there are several things she’d like to see the league do. She has launched the hashtag #BigotWhitecaps to draw attention to the team’s actions, and says, she hopes to “see the Whitecaps unblock the people they blocked for voicing concerns, an apology from them for their behavior towards their fans, and an apology from [Barnes] and a commitment to her learning why these views are harmful and are in contradiction to Hockey Is For Everyone.” She also hopes to see the league implement a social media policy that would prevent something like this from happening again, which Brown, the social media expert, agrees is key.

“The team needs to own their actions, rather than hide and turn away fans, many of whom simply want to feel heard and be reassured that her values do not reflect the teams’ values,” Brown says.

Until they do, many fans are willing to withhold their support for the most recent addition to the NWHL franchise. Donna Carpenter, a women’s hockey fan who lives two miles from the Whitecaps arena and who had been planning to buy season tickets, says she’s glad she waited. “I’ve pulled my support financially away from men’s teams because of the character of players they sign,” she says, “and am happy to do it for women’s sports as well.”