Author of book on ice hockey’s ‘not-so-multi culture’ will kick off new Unpacking Sport online series

By Dan Plouffe

The local Field Hockey Centre group is inviting the Ottawa and Canadian sports community to explore the relationship between sport and culture in its new Unpacking Sport online series, which debuts on Thursday, March 17.

“It’s going to be a series where we invite other community members and other prominent people in sport to try to talk about this idea of how sport has a culture, and that culture transcends sport and goes deeper into our communities, and really defines us as Canadians,” highlights Halley Chopra, The Field Hockey Centre’s technical coordinator.

Dr. Courtney Szto will be the lead speaker in the first online event. Dr. Szto is the author of Changing on the Fly: Hockey Through the Voices of South Asian Canadians, which “dives headfirst into Canadian ice hockey’s not-so-multi culture,” says the book’s description. “This refreshingly open and honest take may be at first hard for some to hear, but in confronting these truths, we can find our way forward,” it adds.

Chopra notes that inclusion is an important topic for many different sports organizations at present, and that learning from Dr. Szto’s research can be helpful to their own initiatives.

“It’s a good opportunity to connect different people in sport,” Chopra adds.

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The Field Hockey Centre group is seeking to build a $4 million world-class facility for its sport. The project leaders hail primarily from the Nepean Nighthawks Field Hockey Club, which is renowned for its unique blend of traditional ice hockey families playing outdoors in the summertime and those who have come to Canada from other parts of the world where field hockey is simply known as hockey.

“The whole concept of the Centre is to be this hub for community, and to try to jump over those hurdles that some sports are having when it comes to community and inclusivity,” Chopra indicates. “Ice hockey in the past three or even five years has really had to confront the issues that they’ve been having in ice hockey culture.

“We want to learn from those mistakes, and knowing what we know now, from Courtney’s research and all the discussions people have been having, how can we start the Centre on the right path to make it a great community?”

Following Dr. Szto’s talk, Nighthawks and Field Hockey Centre founder Sandeep Chopra will lead a discussion panel alongside Ottawa Sport Council president David Gourlay and Field Hockey Canada CEO Susan Ahrens. Participants will then be able to ask questions or provide comments.

The free online event will take place via Teams from 6:30-8 p.m. on Thursday, March 17. Interested participants can sign up via: https://fieldhockeycentre.ca/events-news/