USA Hockey have sent Twitter into meltdown after posting a picture on their official account of a young girl applying lip gloss with the tagline ‘look good, feel good, play good’.

Hundreds of people have replied pointing out the sexist and inappropriate nature of the post and suggesting those behind it have ‘no clue how to promote the women’s game’.

Olympic speed skater Anastasia Buscis wrote: “Uhhh, it’s a no from me.”

Journalist Danielle Warby said: “Well, this isn't creepy at all. Sharing this as an example of what not to do, in case anyone else working in sports marketing still needs this memo. #WomenInSport #ThisGirlCan”

American football player Katie Hnida tweeted: “Ok...big advocate for women being able to look however the hell they want when playing sports But this is a major fail @usahockey **Teach our young girls that what our bodies can do is so much more important than how they look**”

She added:  “Seriously, there were days on the field when I probably looked like I'd been trapped in a sewer for 3 months, but if I kicked well, guess who cared how I looked? NO ONE”

And it wasn’t just women in sport who were angry about the post, fans of the game also criticised the move.

One Twitter user said: “Are there tweets with photos of little boys fixing their hair? Or is the way a hockey player looks only important to comment on if it’s a girl?”

While another wrote: “If she likes wearing lip gloss that's great. But wearing it or not has zero impact on how well she plays. This tweet is unnecessary and not the route we should be going to promote girls in hockey.”

Another user added: "Why are girls/women always forced to be feminine when being shown in media? Why couldn't they have posted a photo of this little girl actually playing hockey?"

Despite the uproar the governing body are yet to take down the post or respond to the criticism.