MONTREAL – In less than two months, the McGill University men's hockey team has reached their initial fundraising objective for a special cultural cause.
 
The varsity club, recently renamed as the Redbirds, has raised just over $1,000 for the Black Youth Ice Hockey Development Program, a not-for-profit initiative based at the RBC Centre in Dartmouth, N.S. The funds are earmarked to assist in offsetting the costs of registration for participating youth, aged 5-10, and securing professional development coaches for the 20-week developmental initiative.
 
"Our long-term objective is to create a similar learn-to-skate project at McGill that provides opportunities for youth from Black, indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) communities to play the game of hockey," says Redbirds head coach Liam Heelis, a native of Georgetown, Ont., who has ties to the Maritimes after skating for four years at Acadia University, in Wolfville, N.S. "Through the conversations our student-athletes are having, we are learning that hockey can be a sport that is often inaccessible between registration fees, associated costs like equipment, and ice time.
 
"This is an initiative driven by our team leaders, wanting to learn, share, be involved, and seek changes in a game we all love. Our student-athletes have all played on teams with people from different backgrounds. However, what we sometimes fail to realize are their experiences and different perspectives" added Heelis, who transfered to McGill for his final year of eligibility while earning a master's degree in sports psychology and is now in his fourth year of coaching with the team.
 
The McGill players who spearheaded the project, include Samuel Tremblay of Ste. Basile, Que., Ryan Penny of Fall River, N.S., Louis-Philip Guindon of St. Joseph, Que., Montrealer Antoine Dufort-Plante, Harlan Orr of Lake Country, B.C., Nikolas Brouillard of St. Hilaire, Que., Keanu Yamomoto of Spokane, Wash., Jordan-Ty Fournier of Dorval, Que., and Taylor Ford of St. Lazare, Que., who presented the initiative to the entire team.

The project is a natural as the Redbirds roster has several ties to the Maritimes with a number who played junior hockey there before enrolling at McGill. That group includes Penny (Moncton) and Fournier (Cape Breton), along with Adam Pilotte (Yarmouth), Michael Campoli (Saint John) and Alex Renaud (Moncton),

"With me being from the Halifax area, our head coach who played at Acadia and a couple guys who played in Nova Scotia, we found this initiative in Dartmouth and thought it would be a great idea to jump onboard and do whatever we can to raise awareness and raise some funds for these kids," Penny said in a recent interview with the Halifax Chronicle Herald.

"With time on our hands and not playing hockey, it was good to get into the community and try to make a difference," noted Penny, a 26-year-old economics and finance senior. "I wanted to do as much as I could with it being in my hometown. We wanted to help these kids and help pay for their equipment and try to grow the game that way."

The Redbirds encouraged awareness and inclusiveness through the team Twitter account (@McGillHockey), in both the English and French communities, by interviewing BIPOC players in the junior and professional ranks and through directing traffic to an online program known as 'FundRazr'.
 
Important strides to reduce discrimination in the Maritimes have been made after much racial injustice over the past two centuries. It's time for that to earn some long overdue community support and the McGill team is doing its part to help raise awareness.
 
"Thank you for taking on this wonderful initiative," wrote Dean Smith in a recent note to the team's fundraising account. "I am one of the lead instructors with the program, and can assure you that your efforts are greatly appreciated. You are proof of your institutions motto: 'By work, all things increase and grow'. Your generosity will assist us in growing the game and increasing diversity at the same time. Our hope is that you will see some of our 2020-21 participants at the 2030 to 2035 NHL Drafts."
 
Now that they've reached their initial goal, the team has no plans to stop.

"To me, this is just the start of it," said Penny. "When the pandemic ends, we're looking at doing something at McGill and the Montreal area, some kind of program to help grow the game. We would like to see this initiative build beyond just Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

"We want to blow it up as much as we can. If this can turn into a program that every year people of colour could migrate to, well, that's the goal. We want kids interested in hockey and help take away the burdens of paying for the program or equipment. At the end of the day, hockey is a very expensive sport. We want to take away some of those burdens and allow kids to play for the love of the game."

Further fundraising efforts are still encouraged through online participation.

SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Info Office
McGill Athletics & Recreation
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
(514) 398-7012