For the love of #hockey #diversity

It’s no secret that I love hockey. If you follow me on Twitter, this won’t exactly come as a shock to you, especially if the Habs are playing. The reason for my love of hockey is not as much about the game itself as it is about what it does.

Growing up in a very non multicultural neighbourhood and being the only coloured family on the street, you could say we stood out. Our neighbours were kind and gracious, the kids at school, not always so. I can vividly remember feeling different, looking different and like so many children, not being sure if I really belonged. Add to that the fact that there were no little girls my age when we moved into our house and I can still remember just how lonely I felt at seven years old.

That all changed one day when I saw the neighbourhood boys playing street hockey just down the street from our house. I used to sit in the living room, lean over the couch and watch them play through our bay window. It looked like so much fun, only there weren’t any girls around, just boys. 

One day, my dad sat next to me while I leaned on the couch watching the boys play and asked why don’t I join them? I looked at him, timid, a little shy and nervous and said there weren’t any other girls. He looked at me, right in the eyes and said “So?” That pretty much sums up my father in one word. The sky’s the limit, believe in yourself and if you want something, go for it. So I did. All I did was walk outside, stick in hand, my hair pulled back into a ponytail and asked if they needed an extra player. In typical neighbourhood boys fashion, they looked up and said ‘ya, you’re on my team’. That was the end of that, and so began my love affair with hockey. It transformed me from the girl on the outside to one of the boys (figuratively speaking). You see, sport does beautiful things. Transcending cultures, religions and most other differences, once you pick up a stick, you’re on the team. That’s all that matters. 

As the months grew on, my hockey boys soon became my baseball boys, basketball buddies and soccer friends. It was a sure thing that on weekends and summer vacation, once 7am would roll around there would be a knock at the door or the doorbell would ring “Can Fariha come play?” Off I’d go. I’d hop on my bike and join the gang.

I think back to those warm childhood memories with fondness. Those years helped build not only my confidence, my sense of belonging and my sports skills but they did something else. They fostered a life long passion for hockey because in my mind that’s where much of it began.

The other day, we took our kids to the local ice rink on a Saturday night for public skating. It’s one of our favourite family activities all winter long and given that we had just bought the kids a pair of gently used skates, there was no better time to break them in. We walked into the rink on that Saturday night expecting to have most of the rink to ourselves (after all, it’s November and don’t people usually wait until winter to start skating?) but we were amazed to see the rink full of people of every shape and colour skating around. It truly warmed my heart to see little asian and south asian boys and girls sporting their P.K. Subban and Gallagher jerseys, whizzing around with giant smiles on their faces. My kids laced up and joined the others. They waved to some kids from their school who happened to be there as well and had an amazing time. The sense of family, sportsmanship and kindness was palpable in that arena because once you laced up, everyone belonged. 

I love the values of inclusion, diversity, honour and passion that hockey (and other sports) teach children. I love the class with which hockey players walk into the arena, I love the sportsmanship present (most of the time) after the game and I love that my family and I can cuddle together in front of the fireplace with a bowl of popcorn and root on Canada’s favourite team.

I get the same feeling when I tweet about hockey. Once you’re rooting on the #Habs (I apologize in advance for their awesomeness, I know….it’s overwhelming at times), nothing else matters. Our country comes together under the guise of sport and when it does, I can’t help but smile and remember those days when I’d sit on the couch and watch the little boys playing street hockey in front of our house.