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COLIN HOOD STORY BY }
WHAT IS MORE LIKELY - THAT EVERY PLAYER OF THOUSANDS IS STRAIGHT? OR THAT SOMETHING IN THE CULTURE OF HOCKEY MAKES THE PERCEIVED COST OF COMING OUT TOO GREAT?
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The NHL, and hockey at large, is just starting to reckon with the consequences of its culture. In Halifax, there is a league trying to create a space where there aren’t barriers to break.
A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN The Halifax Mussels were conceived by Chuck Dauphinee in 2017 as a league that was not just tacitly, but explicitly open to LGBTQ+ players, allies and others who felt like outsiders to the hockey world “I myself am none of those letters, but I support all the values,” says current league chairman Scott Sears says. He’s intent on carrying Dauphinee’s vision forward. “Chuck supported a positive environment for beginners. To me, the values overlap. The bottom line is that it’s hockey. Everybody loves hockey. And we just wanted a supportive environment where people could feel comfortable.” At the best of times, hockey has a high barrier to entry. It requires much more equipment than basketball or soccer. You have to learn how to skate. A lot of time and a lot of money invested just to walk into the rink. Add to that the anxiety of stepping into a room with 20 strangers. “When we have a new person walk in the room, our captains engage them as soon as they walk in the dressing room. We introduce each other. We talk. We joke with them,” says Sears. “It’s a really different bench on the Mussels bench. Our captains are not based on skill, they’re based on how they act, how they encourage other people.” FINDING THEIR GAME Mussels players are linked by their love of hockey and their support for each other. How they come to the game, and what they do outside it doesn’t factor into that acceptance. Defenceman Mike Roy — who also plays a little left wing — is in his first season with the Mussels. “The reason why I wanted to get involved is because it was a queer-friendly league,” says Roy. “I am queer myself, so it felt like a safe space to get into a new sport that I never really got a chance to play growing up.” Roy remembers adolescent locker rooms with insecurity and awkwardness manifesting in jokes at the expense of others’ sexuality or physicality. In the Mussels, he has found an alternative.
“Finding a league that centred the experiences of queer people, it seemed like the locker room culture would be a lot better. We have multiple locker rooms that we use every week, and you can sift in and out between them. So, if you’re female or nonbinary and you want space, you’re able to have it.” Kendra Ann Martin, also on defence, grew up with hockey. Playing on women’s teams, she didn’t feel the sense of otherness that Roy encountered in the locker room. As an experienced player, her focus is on helping new skaters develop. “There’s been other lesbians on the teams that I’ve played with before, so it wasn’t an issue,” says Martin. “We’re all there to play a sport that we love, so there’s a lot of support that way. There’s a lot of new
players and they’re just so happy to be there. They’re not ignored, and I think that’s very important as a beginner, to keep passing them the puck and giving them a chance.”
A CLEAN SHEET OF ICE Halifax Mussels runs off a core of 40 regulars with 160 signed up as spares. They started with a single ice time Saturday nights at Forum and added Thursday nights at Centennial. Sears, along with Kevin Schulz and the rest of the board, are hoping to add ice times and possibly bring in paid coaching. Martin sees hope in the next generation. “I think there’s a huge shift in the mentality of teenagers,” she says. “Right before the age of 18,
13 says Roy. “People can feel accepted whether they have insecurities about their weight, their hair, who they’re dating, what they’re into. “Wherever you identify on the gender or sexuality spectrum, you’re welcome there.” Colin Hodd is a freelance writer based in Dartmouth.
WHY MUSSELS? The name and logo were chosen so the team could be identified with imagery that was clever, nonderogatory and gender neutral, as well as distinctly Maritimes-themed. “We thought the name Mussels would give people the idea of building muscles as well as mussels in
when a teenager is trying to deal with their sexuality, that may be the time when they would back out of hockey because of the culture. Teens are now changing the way they look at sexuality and being more open.” In the present, Roy says he believes the league’s strength is how open it is to a broader cross-section of the community than conventional beer leagues. “I think that’s why something like the Mussels has been so welcomed and embraced by so many people,”
a shell, and it’s fitting because now our slogan is ‘Come out of your shell,’” Charles Dauphinee said last September. “I felt there was something that was missing in a lot of adult sports; there wasn’t a lot of back-to-basics practices and stuff, which is why we started off with skill sessions covering skating, turning, edgework, all the way up to passing and shooting drills and goalie sessions,” Charles Dauphinee. “We wanted to make sure people were ready enough to play, during the season we brought in guest athletes and coaches that I’ve worked with.” “What we try to do as a team is make sure everyone gets in on the game play, and get chances to score a goal,” says Dauphinee. Adapted from The Chronicle Herald reporter, Stephen Cooke.
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