Rink closure spurs calls to expand inclusive hockey in Vancouver
Britannia Rink hosted city's only women, gender-diverse programming before it closed for repairs
Women and gender-diverse hockey players in Vancouver are worried about future ice time after their home rink was shuttered to undergo maintenance and repairs.
The Britannia Rink hosts the only programs for women and gender-diverse hockey players of all skill levels in the city. A brine leak earlier this spring caused the facility in East Vancouver to be closed until further notice.
The city says roughly 80 hours of programming per week has been affected by the closure.
The Vancouver Park Board says it is working to identify nearby locations where groups can be temporarily relocated without disrupting others.
Sand Northrup, who has been playing at the rink for more than 25 years, said the atmosphere of the women and gender-diverse program is "hugely inclusive" and believes thousands have accessed the program at some point.
"There's no other hockey like it in the city," said Northrup, who described the closure of Britannia as a "devastating blow."
"We all love hockey, we're Canadian, people love this sport and there's got to be room for everybody. ... the Britannia program has kind of been representing that for forever. So it's pretty important to expand this idea across rinks everywhere in the city."
Dana Oikawa, who regularly attended the Sunday drop-in league for gender-diverse people, said the program has been critically important for their mental health and feeling of belonging.
"As someone who identifies as non-binary, being able to come to a space where I know that I am welcome, where I know I can be myself, I don't have to change my pronouns to fit what's going on, everyone is very welcoming ... it's been great," they said.
Oikawa said other leagues, which are typically dominated by men, can be uncomfortable, because they feel like they have to hide who they are.
Both Oikawa and Heather Mannas also say playing with or against men can feel unsafe depending on how aggressive those players are.
"And also the dressing-room situation," Mannas said. "Some players are not comfortable being in a dressing room with the opposite gender."
Mannas said it could take 40 minutes of driving each way to get to rinks in North Vancouver or Burnaby that offer hockey exclusively for women and gender-diverse people.
"It just seems a bit ridiculous when there's so many rinks in the city that there's no other all-female programs or gender-diverse programs for us to go to."
The park board says providing accessible, gender-diverse programming is a priority, but there are no plans to expand the programs beyond Britannia at this time.
"It's something that we're looking to update in the coming years in order to support broader access to the community," said manager of recreation Jay Deo.
Oikawa said that expansion can't come soon enough.
"I'd love to see more inclusive spaces in the arenas and more programs that do invite other people that are on the margins, who maybe are new to the sport and may be afraid to step into the spaces that are normally dominated by men," they said.
"It seems ridiculous that there is one arena in the entire City of Vancouver that is supposed to be inclusive and welcoming."
With files from Janella Hamilton