Written by Perry King
On a hockey rink in Southwest Nova Scotia, Black joy is unfolding.
Young Black children – many from historically rich Black communities – in Windsor, Nova Scotia, Three Mile Plains and Newport Station – are lacing up skates for the first time. Many are using skating aids to stay on their feet. Lots of older kids are slipping to the ice on occasion, too embarrassed to use an aid. Parents and coaches are equally guiding the youngsters, some are observing from afar. But the smiling faces and bright smiles make the tumbles sting less.
As this community has willed it, this rink in West Hants is becoming one of the most important sites for hockey in Nova Scotia. But it’s only just beginning.
This southwestern Nova Scotia enclave is home to many things. Windsor, N.S. is considered the cradle or birthplace of ice hockey. In this place, many African Nova Scotians (ANS) and ANS communities would take to local ponds, such as nearby Long Pond, to create and revolutionize hockey – and establish the widely prolific Coloured Hockey League of the Maritimes in the process.
These facts alone now undergird an incredible opportunity for these Black communities to harness and thrive. To get Black kids to safely skate and play regular hockey without barriers is the name of the game.
What organizers conceived was a program called Black Hockey in West Hants County. Black Hockey was designed to raise the visibility of Black people on the ice, with the aim of increasing physical activity, providing an empowerment opportunity and increasing one's knowledge and Africentric pride in hockey. For 12 weeks, between Dec. 2021 to April 2022 on Sunday mornings at 9 a.m., 18 students and 10 community members from West Hants came together at the Windsor Sports Complex for the Black Hockey program. The program provided equipment, ice time and instruction for students from local coaches and mentors within the African descent community of West Hants, Nova Scotia.
The program, a resoundingly successful pilot, will tie up the skates for a new season in the coming weeks – with more kids taking part and more equipment available.
Count Krishinda McBride among those leading this effort. McBride, the Coordinator of African Canadian Education Services for the Annapolis Valley Regional Center for Education (AVRCE), began collaborating with local educators, parents and community members, including coaches Stephen Johnson and Jackie Allen.
McBride – confident in stature, with an infectious laugh – is frank about her intentions. In a deep conversation about Black Hockey and Black life in West Hants, she reveals she wants to narrow the achievement gap with Black kids in the region. “I want our kids to be empowered. To have racial pride, and to feel good about who they are,” said McBride. “Hockey also offers an opportunity for physical activity within the Black community. While also being a vehicle to promote racial pride and our contributions to the sport, representation matters.”
In discussing the Winter months and healthy activity levels, she says “our African descent community needs to get out more to be active and social.” This statement could possibly be made for all communities or people during the cold winter months. Black Hockey within the Annapolis Valley Regional Centre for Education is bringing African descent students and families together for physical activity and socialization similar in aim and focus as its historical counterparts inception, the Coloured Hockey League of the Maritimes.
"Black Hockey was designed to raise the visibility of Black people on the ice, with the aim of increasing physical activity, providing an empowerment opportunity and increasing one's knowledge and Africentric pride in hockey."
Finding a captive audience
Krishinda McBride is brimming with stories.
Getting Black kids from the region on the ice was actually harder than you may think, she says. McBride did her due diligence, speaking to elementary teachers, administrators and gym teachers across the regional centre – especially schools with a predominantly Black demographic in the West Hants area. Research revealed “they [would go] skating once and it was like pulling teeth,” says McBride, with exasperation, “like come on. The students may have thought ‘what we were doing [skating] isn't going to be fun or that they would be cold skating on frozen ice.’” It may have been that students and families at the predominantly Black school had little exposure to ice skating or hockey, she says.
In contrast, “at other schools in the West Hants area, which are predominantly filled with European descent students, one of the schools has created an ice pond behind their school and they go skating 3, 4, 5 times [a week]. The students love it. They are being physically and socially active while learning skills on the ice.”
McBride and crew had a clear challenge and the educator was motivated. It’s all about opportunity, something McBride could relate to. As an African descent American, she was given the opportunity to attend University on a NCAA Division 1 soccer scholarship. McBride comments that administering this program isn’t about having an obsessive knowledge of the game or deep knowledge of a favorite NHL team. It’s about the kids, and making sure these students are building on something that goes beyond the ice. Hockey teaches us many things and one of them is if or when we fall down, to get up, keep trying and carry-on. This is a life lesson and a lesson of never giving up, we keep trying.
“Thankfully, someone picked me up, it was great,” said McBride, reflecting on her career trajectory. “Here I am! There has always been someone looking out for me.” The opportunity to play soccer and attend University provided the opportunities that led to Master Degrees and a robust career in education. McBride is a licensed Nova Scotia teacher, has served as a high school principal and is now in the role of Coordinator, of African Canadian Education Services for the Annapolis Valley Regional Centre for Education.
"The group learned about the influence of Black athletes over time – the significance of Willie O’Ree, Herb Carnegie, Angela James, Sarah Nurse and Jerome Iginla. The Black Hockey program is not shy about discussing the degrees of racism many Black athletes have and do endure. Some stories of racism came from the coaches, but many were also revealed by parents and caregivers who attend the sessions with students as community hockey mentors and elders."
Just as someone was looking out for Krishinda she wants to be there for students today. She was able to get the attention of students participating in Nova Scotia’s Student Support Worker Program – many African descent families within the AVRCE place their students in the program. The program supports students in school through Afrcientric centres that provide safe spaces for students to learn, be accountable and comfortable in their own skin.
“Given the captive audience,” McBride recalls, “Eighteen (18) students and families were approached regarding their interest and engagement – we made a one page flier to promote the initiative with students, teachers and families.”
It proved to be a crescendo, with aspects of the Black Hockey program speaking deeply to the families and students. McBride recalls one Black student, who is ideal for the program – a student who was in need of inspiration and focus, inside and out of the classroom. The team suggested that the student take part in Black Hockey. “[I was] like, okay, okay, let's put them in, and see if he is interested.” You better believe he was. He was there every Sunday morning, focused and ready to go. His smile, focus and energy was contagious and powerful in expressing his success and engagement.
Keeping them coming back
Black Hockey really put Black excellence on display – it was seen through student and community leadership, mentorship and the relied phase “Representation Matters.” The Black Hockey organizing group looks forward to their continued work with students and guardians in West Hants.
The organizers look forward to continuing to increase the physical and mental wellbeing of their community while increasing knowledge and representation of African Canadians on the ice.
And ultimately, as she eyes retirement within the next decade, McBride hopes to leave a lasting legacy behind – in education but especially in this program. “I do hope that the Horton High Africentric cohort continues, I do hope that programs like Black Hockey or the Africentric Chess program, can be added to and build upon the concept and principle of Ubuntu, I am what I am because of who we all are,” she said. “I do hope that some of these folks – whether they’re students, student support workers, teachers or parents, give back to others while continuing to build programs and initiatives of Black Excellence within our African Diaspora.
“So, just like someone looked out for me, I hope they do the same – whether that's teaching the primary [student] over there how to skate or put on skates, or when they’re in university being a community mentor or tutor – it’s giving back to the [African Diaspora] community.”
“Thankfully, someone picked me up, it was great,” said McBride, reflecting on her career trajectory. “Here I am! There has always been someone looking out for me.”
Learning history, seeing history, being history
The group had an opportunity to travel to Halifax (via a coach bus, no less) to attend the Coloured Hockey League (CHL) Memorial Hockey Game in February 2022. Students and guardians learned about the historical origin of Black Hockey, they learned about the contributions of Black Hockey players (historical and contemporary) while also having an opportunity to increase their physical activity and learn a new skill.
The CHL Memorial Game Day itself stands out for McBride, who recalls it taking place during a Nova Scotia winter storm. McBride also recalls conversations on the bus equating the group’s Black Hockey experience to Halifax and the CHL game as being similar in experience to that of a professional or major junior hockey league regarding the groups travel together on the Coach bus while also taking time together to eat at Boston Pizza and attend the CHL memorial game together. “‘Hey, this is like real hockey!’” McBride recalled.
The program was an eye opening, boisterous experience for kids and guardians alike. At other points, participants came together to learn more about the Coloured Hockey League – how games came together on local winter ponds, how African descent players invented the slapshot and the butterfly goalie technique. The group learned about the influence of Black athletes over time – the significance of Willie O’Ree, Herb Carnegie, Angela James, Sarah Nurse and Jerome Iginla.
The Black Hockey program is not shy about discussing the degrees of racism many Black athletes have and do endure. Some stories of racism came from the coaches, but many were also revealed by parents and caregivers who attend the sessions with students as community hockey mentors and elders. “And so we start to hear all these old stories about Black folks and hockey and how people were picked up and how some people weren't picked up [by higher level coaches and leagues,” said McBride.
There were great communal moments across this first winter season of Black Hockey. Parents and guardians were invited to the closing Big Breakfast and were invited for the last skate. “It just kind of came about organically,” said McBride. “One father came up and he's like, ‘Can I go on the ice?’ “Yes, but you need skates. ‘I got some! I got them in the car.’” said the guardian. McBride laughed and said okay. “And before you knew it, three additional guardians/ parents were asking to skate with their student. It was grand and resulted in us looking to an annual family skate for participants, their guardians and potentially family members. The Black hockey program and our African descent community is communal and can be seen as building upon our interpersonal relationship of supporting one another.
The Black Hockey program is quickly evolving with coach and educator Jackie Allen, McBride’s colleague, helping to guide more African descent girls and women to the rink. Stephen Johnson continues to lead, coach and help bring the group of Grade Primary to Grade 8 students (both girls and boys) together in the learning of skills of hockey through leadership, teamwork and racial pride.
The upcoming season, the AVRCE’s Black Hockey is looking to evolve again, bringing together thirty (30) students and families between September and December 2022. New components to the program this year will involve the incorporation of a study block, outdoor pond hockey and bring a “buddy”. The 2022-2023 Black Hockey program will incorporate an hour block twice a month devoted to education (literacy and/ or numeracy focus).
Once a month participants of Black Hockey will have the opportunity to bring a buddy or friend, to talk, skate and educate all further to Black Hockey and the Black experiences in Hockey. From what we witness today within the sport of hockey, “we can say African descent players will face racism in traditional hockey programs,” McBride expressed. “The hope of bringing a buddy is that it will foster empowerment, education and alliance so as to decrease or rid the sport of anti-black racism. The group will also have an opportunity this February to experience outdoor pond hockey and the liberation it may bring.
“Eventually [the kids] will leave Black Hockey and they will want to play in the Nova Scotia Hockey Association – as they well should. I don't need that to be the first time for [someone] to be like, ‘Oh, you hurt my feelings and now I don't want to play.’”
McBride remembers one Grade 10 kid who could have benefited from this part of the program.
“He’s a young man in Grade 10 – all the kids tell me how good he is [at hockey]. I was like ‘You play hockey, I thought you played basketball – a tall guy.’”
The kid would brush it off, say that he was just learning but his friends would praise him – saying he was better at hockey than basketball – where he was seemingly less graceful. He even played some higher level youth hockey in Nova Scotia.
“[So,] how come you keep talking about basketball? I never hear you talk to me about hockey,’” McBride asked the Grade 10 student. “’Why do you keep—,’ ‘Oh, I quit? I couldn't take it anymore, I’m sick of them. I'm sick of my teammate. I'm sick of you know, the other people. So I'm playing basketball.’”
McBride never wants that to happen to another Black kid again.
