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There is no panacea to fixing hockey culture. It will take a multi-pronged approach of various methods and programs at all levels. The good news is the work has already begun.
There is a future where instead of insular conformity, hockey culture is centered around a unified desire to make the game safe, exciting, and enjoyable for us all.
That’s the future I am hoping for.
Read MoreSports are never stagnant. There is no ‘natural’ state of the game.
Whether you’re talking about tennis, basketball, football, soccer, or hockey – any GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) debate will inevitably feature hypotheticals about how stars would have fared in different eras. Things can and do change.
What needs to change next is the culture of playing through injury.
Read MoreWhat’s the problem with patriarchal ideas about masculinity and exclusionary ideas about who belongs in hockey? In short, these attitudes shape what kind of behaviour we see on and off the ice, who is upheld as role models, what kind of conduct is excused or overlooked (and from whom), and why there is so much fear about speaking out against abuse.
Read MoreWhy should we push back against hyper-conformity in hockey culture? I’d argue that it’s about so much more than beards and bear hugs. Hyper-conformity is linked to allowing harmful behaviours to continue.
Read MoreHow have diverse people — people of different races, genders, sexual orientations, and so on — been excluded from outdoor sports and adventuring? From the conquest-without-consent nature of colonialism, to offensive route names in climbs, to hyper-competitive “boys club” mentalities, there’s a lot to unpack. But there are people making change. So how have outdoor sports and adventuring changed to better welcome and include diverse people?
Read MoreOur friend and NGM community member Paul is about to undertake a 140-km bike journey around the Niagara peninsula to fundraise for Next Gen Men, coming up on August 8th! He’s from St. Catharines and is driven to empower and educate men like him on gender equity, mental health and positive masculinities. Get to know Paul, the man behind #BikeForBetterMen.
Read MoreAt its worst, trash talk gets picked up by boys who would rather go on the offensive than end up as targets themselves. It fuels the us-versus-them dehumanization that turns rivalry into conflict, and the hierarchical don’t-be-vulnerable mindset that leads to patterns of hazing in sports teams and toxicity in video games.
Read MoreRemember that ‘raising awareness’ is a means to an end. We raise awareness so that we can act with awareness, and bring awareness to our work. The next time that another awareness day, or another tragedy, has mental health is in the headlines, skip past all the thought-pieces and amplify the voices that speak of action.
Read MoreI think it’s a missed opportunity to skirt around the sexual assault case when talking about Kobe with adolescent boys, because it creates a space to challenge the Trump-era notion of a ‘witch hunt’ against men, and it allows boys to reflect on making mistakes and making amends.
Read MoreI learnt a new word this weekend: Sinecure – a position requiring little or no work but giving the holder status or financial benefit. From Latin sine cura, ‘without care’.
Read MoreHappy 2018 to you and yours! This year we are undertaking a personal challenge to share some of our reflections around what it means to be a better man in today’s day and age. As a team, we often have long conversations based on our experiences in our programs, our personal lives, or the latest article, video, or podcast that we’ve taken in.
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