History
In the late 1800’s into the 1900s, discrimination and injustice were also societal topics where racial social movements began to arise. Trailblazers of racial injustice became models of inclusiveness in taking distinctive career paths in sport. Within hockey, two of many examples of these pioneers are Herb Carnegie and Willie O’Ree. Before their stories and impacts became famous in the hockey community, there was a rich history of hockey within the black community that is less well known. More than 400 hockey players from the black community located in the Maritimes played in the Coloured Hockey League between 1895 to 1930. A recent documentary made by Kwane Damon Mason presented their history and reported the inadequate exposure the league had back then. Hockey has a great history within the black community, and a lot of these athletes helped innovate modern hockey.
Storyline
Since hockey is a sport dominantly played by Caucasians and has become an increasingly expensive sport to play with the associated costs (i.e., equipment costs, registration fees, development sessions). Thus, spreading awareness may help the sport become more inclusive and affordable to our Canadian communities. We want to make the experiences and memories that we have been fortunate to have lived through sport (specifically hockey) accessible to everyone in our country
Objectives
We have been communicating with the 2020 Black Youth Ice Program located in Nova Scotia. We are looking to raise $1000 for their program to assist in covering the costs of registration and to cover the costs associated professional development coaches. These funds will help provide increased experiences for the participating youth athletes. All proceeds raised will go directly to the 2020 Black Youth Ice Hockey Program.
Long term objective
Create a learn-to-skate hockey program at McGill University that affords youth from BIPOC communities the opportunity to learn the game of hockey and interact with our student-athletes to develop hockey skills through a life skills development approach.
