COHORT 1

COHORT 1
MID-POINT WORKSHOP: MARCH 5, 2022
DARTMOUTH, NS

It's hard to believe we’re now at the half-way point of our first-ever cohort in the first-ever Future of Hockey Lab!

Since we last met, some of our groups have made huge leaps forward and are coming with a curiousity around linking their innovation efforts to impact the "whole system". Some have pivoted to new ideas, and some are unsure about next steps while still being keen. Most importantly, everyone came with hearts in the exact right place - which is a desire to see a shift in the hockey system and hockey culture so that the sport is more inclusive, diverse, and welcoming... Hockey for ALL!

What follows are highlights from the workshop.

THE TEAM

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THE AGENDA

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WELCOME

Click here for Land Acknowledgment
Click here for guidelines around the space we're trying to create.

Goals of This Workshop

Everyone feels excited for the second-half journey, including goals for the next two in-person sessions, and options beyond this six-month cohort arc
Reconnect with each other, to share in, and feel motivated by each other’s progress
Have a clearer sense of the change and impact you want to have, and simple developmental evaluation ways of thinking to help you learn and make progress.

Personal Check-in

What are you most excited about? What's the next step or thing that you're not sure about? What have you learned about yourself so far?

"Organic community within hockey"
"Dressing room family"
"Still excited to create change..."
"How far are we supposed to get by the end?"
"After the cohort, how do we sustain these ideas?"

Team Check-in
What have you been up to since we last met? How has your thinking changed? What would you consider to be progress?

Christine & Leijsa made contact with the municipality and are closely monitoring progress.
Matt & Leonard pivoted to a new idea - now in ideation stage - around bringing dry ice to the community to enable grassroots learning and excitement in the offseason.
Krishinda had to work around new COVID restrictions to get the kids on ice while maintaining the goal of sustaining the program through to its second year, enrolling more kids, and seeing them grow.
Kerry has started looking into bringing a black hockey program to his community, and was keen to learn from Krishinda’s experience.
Muhammad, Naser & Omar & Syed decided to pivot from the language app idea, and will instead learn from collaborating with families of the new Getting Ready for Hockey program, starting with a microsite.
Andrew & Steph are beginning conversations with the Hockey Nova Scotia DE&I Taskforce to ensure alignment and avoid duplication of effort to create innovative education for boards.
Craig shared the success of his partnership with Ahmad - of 300 kids signing up with only 20 spaces in the Getting Ready for Hockey pilot - and the rich learning pains and gains. There is excitement about what to tackle next, and where the pilot can go.

Cohort Arc: Update & Feedback

Amy and Carolyn shared the Lab’s updated plans for the rest of the six-month cohort arc, and how the lab hopes to continue to support groups that want to go beyond the arc. Key takeaways from that discussion included:
- Cool things are happening but they are not scaling in the mainstream hockey system - are we open to cultivating innovation “outside” the system?
- The lab provides different engagement options for cohort members beyond the six-month arc, including innovation competencies and funding support for groups that want to keep working, communities to share interesting innovation initiatives, peer-mentoring for the next cohort, etc.
- “Your accountability is to do something to learn; while FHL is accountable to provide you with the supports to do so.”

Visioning & "Skating the Arc"

For the rest of the day, we worked on setting goals for the rest of the cohort experience ("the arc"), and beyond. The groups put together the frontpage news for their ideas, and used the process to clarify their vision for success, to make them more tangible. Each group also worked on refining their goals, working backwards from the frontpage news.

Developmental Evaluation
Click here to see the four developmental evaluation roles.

Deep Close:
An intergenerational conversation about resilience, skating for equity and unconditional love for the game

Mark and Kerry share stories about their own experiences - both difficult and hopeful - across their generations and over the years. Kerry remarked that the sport has become more inclusive and less accommodating of racist behaviour. Starting as a junior player, to becoming a coach and then a referee, he has seen enough changes to want to keep going. Mark also shared his own journey and the changes he's experienced from being a pro player to being the diversity lead with the Maple Leafs.

Check-out Affirmations

"leveled up"," clear", "good", "energized", "admiration", "recharged", "curious"
"grateful", "privileged", "excited & sleepy", "pensive & peaceful", "confident", "I was on the negative side of it now I want to be on the good side of it"

Great meeting everyone! Change is tough but this group is mighty. Looking forward to see how far we can get together!