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It's October and for many hockey moms and dads, myself included, it means back to the rink for practices, game days, and the perennial favourite, tournament weekends. Tournaments offer kids the opportunity to become amazing teammates that look out for each other, win or lose, connect with other players and grow their love of the game. It also goes without saying that someone will get in trouble for playing mini sticks in the
hallway ;-).
In some ways, I see our upcoming 2024 Carnegie Initiative Summit as a grown-up version of a tournament weekend where we will be convening leaders from grassroots organizations to the pros and amplifying the positive strides that are being made in hockey across North America. More details on the summit will be available soon, so check our social media and website for updates.
Fall is also a time of reflection as we recently observed Truth and Reconciliation Day on September 30, when we wear orange shirts here in Canada to acknowledge the history of Indigenous people. As an uninvited guest to Canada, I appreciate the opportunities and benefits I have received while also acknowledging the painful ways that this land was formed. It is so important to me that as we recognize these truths, we also look forward with love and compassion, as legendary NHL coach and CI board member Ted Nolan shared with us during a recent interview. Ted's enlightening new book, “Life in Two Worlds,” will be available for purchase next week and you can check out more about our conversation with him in this newsletter.
I hope you all enjoy our new monthly "Carnegie Corner" newsletter that will now be delivered to your inbox on the 7th of each month. As you may know, the number 7 has deep meaning to us at The Carnegie Initiative. It was the jersey number worn by Dr. Herbert Carnegie during his illustrious career in hockey as he blazed the trail for those who followed. Also, since the Carnegie family hails from Canada, we will default to Canadian spellings. So, those of you outside the country may occasionally notice an extra vowel in a word. :)
Thank you for taking some time out to check out the “Carnegie Corner” and if you are able, please consider a donation. Your support and generosity are needed as we strive to make the culture of hockey more supportive, inclusive, and welcoming to all.
Happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian readers and Indigenous Peoples’ Day to our American friends.
Sincerely,
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Shelley Nicholls
Executive Director
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Shelley Nicholls was named the new Executive Director of The Carnegie Initiative on June 26, 2023. | | |
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Bernice Carnegie Attends KidSport Event
The CI Co-Founder Bernice Carnegie accepted an invitation to attend a fall kickoff event for KidSport in Toronto on September 21, 2023. She was among many guests celebrating the community of partners, volunteers, donors, and ambassadors who work tirelessly so “ALL Kids Can Play!”
KidSport focuses on the reality that cost keeps one in three Canadian children, especially those from marginalized or remote communities, from participating in organized sport. Its mission reads, “KidSport supports children who need financial assistance with sport registration fees and equipment costs. We believe that the power of sport participation promotes the development of children's social, mental and physical well being. Through increasing access to quality sport programs, KidSport strengthens communities across Canada.”
On average, the organization distributes $9M in grants annually to help kids throughout Canada participate in a season of sport.
Samantha Rogers is the founder and chief strategist for Relate Social Capital, a sport philanthropy-focused social enterprise that creates sustainable growth and builds strategic partnerships. Relate, who hosted the event, works with organizations such as KidSport and The Carnegie Initiative to drive impact using the power of sport.
She commented, “Katie (Cheesbrough, who heads revenue generation and strategic partnerships at Relate), and I feel very strongly about breaking down silos and ensuring that good people and organizations can work together and benefit from one another.”
|  | Samantha Rogers and Bernice Carnegie at the KidSport event in Toronto. |
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“Life in Two Worlds: A Coach's Journey from the Reserve to the NHL and Back” to launch on October 10
Ted Nolan’s memoir brings light to the difficulties he has faced “one pail of water at a time.”
Penguin Random House Canada will release Ted Nolan’s new book, “Life in Two Worlds: A Coach's Journey from the Reserve to the NHL and Back,” on October 10, 2023.
Nolan is a native of Garden River Reserve, where he learned to play on a backyard rink he made with a hand pump and a pail of water. He went on to play for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds with Wayne Gretzky, the Detroit Red Wings with Steve Yzerman, and the Pittsburgh Penguins with Mario Lemieux. Following his playing days, he entered the coaching ranks eventually finding his way back to the NHL. He won the NHL’s Jack Adams Trophy as the coach "adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success” before a series of events pushed him away from the hockey world.
Nolan’s memoir is, at times, brutally honest about the abuse Nolan faced as a First Nations player and coach.
“When you're just a boy, it doesn't matter if you're Black, Brown, White ... it doesn't really matter,” Nolan told The Carnegie Initiative. “The only thing you really want to do is just play and just be a part of something. But when your race and your color and your economic background interferes with that, something's wrong with the system. I think every child deserves an equal and fair opportunity to pursue whatever they want to pursue. And the only thing I really wanted to do was just to play hockey.”
Nolan, a member of The CI's Board of Directors, said many of the moments he describes in the book are “still raw” years after the end of his NHL career. The opening pages of “Life in Two Worlds” details the moment the Jack Adams Trophy arrived at Nolan’s doorstep of his home, a short time after finding himself out of coaching.
Nolan now works alongside his sons Brandon and Jordan with the 3Nolans, a group they formed in 2013 as a way to offer a hockey skills development camp for First Nation youth in First Nation communities across Canada. Like their father, both Brandon and Jordan made it to the NHL as players. Brandon played for the Carolina Hurricanes and Jordan was a member of the Los Angeles Kings, with whom he won two Stanley Cups.
“Life in Two Worlds” is available for pre-order through Penguin Random House.
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Conversation with Ted
Ted Nolan sat down for an interview with The CI’s Eric Hammerstrom. He shared, among other things, what he hopes readers will take away from his new book.
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Orange Jersey Project Making an Impact
Truth and Reconciliation Day across Canada took place on September 30. Canadians donned orange shirts in memory of the children taken from their families and forced into Residential Schools. The orange shirts are worn in remembrance of the children who never returned home, and also for the survivors of those Residential Schools.
According to the Orange Shirt Society “The orange shirt has become a symbol of hope, reconciliation and a commitment to a better future. By wearing an orange shirt on September 30th, you make a statement to support reconciliation and commit to the enduring truth that EVERY CHILD MATTERS.” The orange shirt memorializes the moment when six-year-old Phyllis Webstad was taken from the Dog Creek Reserve wearing a “shiny, new” orange shirt purchased for the occasion by her grandmother. When Phyllis arrived at the Mission school, she was stripped and her clothes were taken from her. She never saw that orange shirt again.
Phyllis had her son Jeremy Boston at age 13. He later was taken from her and forced into a Residential School.
Phyllis, who is Northern Secwpemc from the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation, is now director of the Orange Shirt Project, while Jeremy is director of the Orange Jersey Project. This year, the Orange Jersey Project will outfit 1,000 teams across Canada with orange jerseys, coaches' hats, books and instructional programs explaining the significance of the jerseys.
“When the jerseys are handed out, the kids have the question, ‘why is it orange?’” said Boston. “And then the coach gets to engage in a conversation and explain it to them. We provide the coaches with the materials (to help with that conversation).”
Boston added that 16 teams from the Western Hockey League will participate in the Orange Jersey Project this season, and all of those teams’ players will participate in the group’s educational programs.
The logo on the orange jerseys was designed by an Indigenous artist. The design features three little children from different First Nations holding hands, to symbolize the unity of Indigenous people.
The Orange Jersey Project is free and open to all Indigenous and non-Indigenous minor hockey teams “across Turtle Island.” The application window to participate in the Orange Jersey project is now open.
Boston (photo below) also shared that orange jerseys and other merchandise supporting the project would soon be available for purchase by individuals.
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"The Carnegie Library"
Book Lists Added to The CI Website
We’ve recently added a page to our website we think serves as a terrific resource for you. “The Carnegie Library” features book recommendations from The CI community of board members, staff, partners, and other allies doing the work at the intersection of hockey and social justice.
Of course, top of that list is “Fly in a Pail of Milk,” by Herb Carnegie with Bernice Carnegie. The in-depth list is divided into the following categories.
- Suggested Reads from a variety of those in The CI Community
- Bryant McBride’s Important Social Justice “Must Reads”
- Books by The CI Board Members & Advisors
- Black Girl Hockey Club’s Book Club
Please visit the “Carnegie Library” and share it with others in your circles.
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Ron MacLean is a Canadian icon and a multiple award-winning sports broadcaster, best known for his role on “Hockey Night in Canada” in addition to his quick wit and encyclopedic knowledge. He is a ten-time Gemini Award winner and two-time George Gross Award recipient, honouring excellence in sports broadcasting, and was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2015.
He serves on The CI’s Board of Directors.
CI: How do you feel about the present state of hockey in regard to diversity and inclusion?
RM: Some wonderful work has been done for decades and recent growth is clearly visible. Herb and Bernice Carnegie’s Future Aces, Bob Dawson writing for Boxscore World Sportswire, which resulted in his work with Dr. Courtney Szto, Sam McKegney, Michael Mahkwa Auksi on a “Policy Paper for Anti-racism in Canadian Hockey” published in 2019. Renee Hess (Black Girls Hockey Club), Chante and Anthony Stewart’s (Hockey Equality), Cyril Bollers (Hockey is For Everyone), Akim Aliu (Hockey Diversity Alliance), NHL/NHLPA Hockey Inclusion Coalition, Rose Power’s Sport a Rainbow, Marian Jacko (The Little Native Hockey League), Hockey Cares (True North Aid), and of course The Carnegie Initiative. That’s just a dozen groups lighting the way ... the resources are bountiful, the possibilities beautiful.
CI: Can “Hockey Night in Canada” be a driver in helping to make hockey more diverse and inclusive?
RM: The simple answer is yes. However, a mix of digital, social media, A.I. means we no longer turn to a national show or newspaper to inform our motives. Information is fragmented. I recall Ta-Nehisi Coates in his book, “Between the World and Me” trying to reckon with a crisis of history, and a vision for a way forward. Ta-Nehisi wrote, “I had come looking through books for a parade, a military review of champions marching in ranks. Instead, I was left with a brawl of ancestors, a herd of dissenters, sometimes marching together, but just as often marching away from each other.”
Bernice Carnegie has always been careful not to exclude the messenger who may be mired in a righteous indignation which is off-putting to the corporate ways, yet vital to the conversation. I think that’s a critical awareness. I know Desmond Cole in his book “The Skin We’re In” discusses that notion of homogenous thinking becoming somewhat impossible by showcasing the differences in the work of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
CI: Do you feel a sense of responsibility regarding educating the hockey-watching audience?
RM: Here’s another brilliant book that addresses advocacy. Bryan Stevenson’s “Just Mercy.” Bryan was a lawyer who represented prisoners on death row. One of the things that gave him inspiration was a simple chat with a parent of a person in jail. The parent said, “Bryan, just remember, you have people who are loved in your care.” Bryan opens the book with a quotation from Reinhold Niebuhr, “Love is the motive, but justice is the instrument.” I love the game, have players who are loved in my care. Hence, I must strive for justice.
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CI: Was there a particular instance in your life you recall as the moment you fell in love with hockey?
RM: My father was in the Air Force, stationed in Whitehorse, Yukon. When I was 4 or 5 a neighbour came and invited me to skate on a backyard rink across the street. He came with a pair of bob-skates (double blade runners on each boot) and although my skating was Bambi-like, the setting, fresh outdoor ice, flood lights, hockey nets and boards, it felt like Disneyland. The neighbour was Dwight Riendeau and the rink belonged to the Clement Family (Alphonse and Pauline). You don’t forget the ones who clear the runway for your takeoff.
CI: What are the most immediate challenges The CI must focus on to see more progress in making the sport more inclusive and welcoming to all?
RM: Everything is opportunity. The CI was a fine partner to the PHF and now the PWHL represents a great avenue for growth, so we will want to support them. Our Summits bring together stakeholders and that is what Hockey Canada is endeavouring to do. Working with National Sport Organizations will be important. And as Bryant McBride said from the outset, “We need to be a clearing house where all parties convene and are made accountable.” We must keep the rogue warriors invested with us.
CI: What are you reading at present, and what book(s) would you recommend for others involved in making hockey more inclusive and accepting?
RM: Well I will just do Top 10 (Herb’s "A Fly in a Pail of Milk" is our manifesto so that is not on list) - 1) "Frederick Douglass Prophet of Freedom" - David W. Blight; 2) Ta-Nehisi Coates - “Between the World and Me;” 3) Janie Victoria Ward - “The Skin We’re In” a different book than Desmod Coles.’ Lays out an action to confront racism; 4) Bernie Saunders and Barry Meisel - “Shut Out;” 5) Bryan Stevenson - “Just Mercy;” 6) Chanel Miller - “Know My Name;” 7) Tom Bartsiokas and Corey Long - “Angela James;” 8) Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen - “Renegades;” 9) Cecil Harris - “Breaking the Ice;” 10) William Humber - “A Sporting Chance
Photos courtesy of Rogers Media.
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By the Numbers
The Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) held its first draft on September 18, 2023 in Toronto. Here is a snapshot of the historic event.
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Calendar
November 12-14, 2023 - 16th Annual PrimeTime Sports Management Conference and Trade Show Presented by MLSE (Co-chaired by The CI Board Member Brian Burke) at Westin Harbour Castle Hotel in Toronto, Ontario.
January 2024 - The CI Summit in Toronto, Ontario.
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Help Blaze the Trail
The CI gratefully appreciates donations, large and small, that help us with our mission: “Work to ensure that hockey is inclusive, supportive, and welcoming to all.”
Please consider a donation today.
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Tennis legend and champion for social justice and equality Billie Jean King made this comment at the PWHL's inaugural draft. King is part of the leadership for the new league that will drop the puck in January 2024. |
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