Black Lives Matter Sudbury sponsoring two young Black players to learn hockey

Black Lives Matter Sudbury wants to encourage more Black young people to lace up their skates and get on the ice.

That's why the organization is sponsoring two positions for the First Shift program put on by the National Hockey League, National Hockey League Players' Association and Hockey Canada .

First Shift is for children who have never played hockey before and covers the cost of a full set of gear, enrolment fee and six weeks of on-ice instruction.

Shana Calixte-Pitawanakwat, who sits on the Black Lives Matter Sudbury board, says as a hockey mom herself, she's noticed a lack of diversity at the rink.

She said her child began playing around the age of eight and is now in his mid-teens.

"He has never had a Black coach and he's never played with another Black child. So he's always been the only Black kid on the ice," she said.

Calixte-Pitawanakwat said that changed when he travelled a little further south to compete.

"He traveled to Barrie for a tournament and finally saw Black and South Asian kids playing hockey," she said. 

As well, she said as a Black player in a predominantly white sport, he's experienced racism and name-calling.

Regardless of the sometimes hostile environment, Calixte-Pitawanakwat says her son is passionate about the sport and plans to keep playing.

She is advocating for more Black youth to join to increase representation.

"I think it's not seen as a viable option," she said. "You see a lot of, specifically, newcomers, Black newcomers, in soccer and basketball, but hockey doesn't seem like a viable option. As we get more folks involved perhaps we can shift that a little bit."

It's a shift that the Northern Ontario Hockey Association says it's working on.

"We recognize that the demographics not only within our area, but across the country have changed significantly and there's a need to adopt our programming and that's something that our board has identified as a priority going forward is to be able to grow the game," said executive director Jason Marchand.

He said according to their most recent data, 45 players identified as Black among 14,000 who registered aged six to 20, although he said some families didn't give details of their backgrounds.

Marchand did say there are a significant number of Indigenous players.

While he said there's zero tolerance for any type of discrimination and allegations are dealt with seriously, he said there is room to make it more welcoming and diverse.

"I think you know, there's a continued need to change the culture of hockey because in many ways it's perceived that it's not," he said

"But I believe that it is, and it can be even more going forward."

The deadline to apply for the two First Shift spots being sponsored by Black Lives Matter Sudbury is June 1.