Making Hockey Work For Us

Enhancing Supports for Indigenous Athletes at the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships

We are working with the National Aboriginal Hockey Championship Working Group to create a survey tool that will help team organizers better understand who their athletes are and how they can enhance their hockey programs to support the development of their youth on and off the ice.

Research Background

This research aims to compare and contrast male and female sporting experiences in hockey by surveying and interviewing athletes who compete at the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships (NAHC), Canada’s premier event for developing and promoting Indigenous hockey talent.

The purpose is to create a better understanding of Indigenous youth involvement in hockey for Indigenous and non-Indigenous sport organizations, especially the NAHC Working Group and the Aboriginal Sport Circle.

The information in this report can be used to develop better programming for the NAHC, resulting in new or enhanced partnerships, as well as public and private sources of funding; developing an appropriate marketing strategy tailored to meet the needs of the NAHC; and offering new or enhanced opportunities for the participants. Three measures—economic, educational, and performance—are used to frame the research.

Research Partners

"[Hockey is] a sport that they really enjoy and brings in this culture aspect that is a natural fit . . . for our kids . . . when they go [home] they are aware of it and they can make it a bigger part of their life"

~ NAHC Coach, May 2019 ~

"We weren’t just coaches, but female mentors and we wanted to coach them on the ice but prepare them off the ice"

~ NAHC Coach, May 2019 ~

Publications

Technical Reports:

Forsyth, J., Benson, A., McKee, T., Armstrong, K., Pettit, A., Hauck, D., El-Shamy, N., Whitesell, M., and Spencer, J. (2020). NAHC Regional Report, prepared for the National Aboriginal Hockey Championship Working Group and the Aboriginal Sport Circle. London, ON: Western University.

Forsyth, J., Benson, A., McKee, T., Armstrong, K., Pettit, A., Hauck, D., El-Shamy, N., Whitesell, M., and Spencer, J. (2020). NAHC Gender Report, prepared for the National Aboriginal Hockey Championship Working Group and the Aboriginal Sport Circle. London, ON: Western University.

Forsyth, J., Benson, A., McKee, T., Armstrong, K., Pettit, A., Hauck, D., El-Shamy, N., Whitesell, M., and Spencer, J. (2019). NAHC Statistical Report, prepared for the National Aboriginal Hockey Championship Working Group and the Aboriginal Sport Circle. London, ON: Western University.

Forsyth, J. (2017). What Does Reconciliation Mean for Aboriginal Sport Development in Canada? Discussion paper prepared for the Aboriginal Sport Circle, Sport Canada, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, and Health Canada.

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