First-person perspective: It’s been an eye-opening experience serving as a coach for the African Hockey Association in Ottawa.

My name is Emma Weller, and I’m a third-year journalism student at Carleton University in Ottawa and a former player on their women’s varsity hockey team. After “retiring” from U Sports, I’m now the coach of the African Hockey Association program – a program which strives to break down racial and socio-economic barriers in hockey for youth in the Ottawa area. I coach alongside Amarkai Laryea, Abbas Kwofie and GM Godlove Ngwafusi.

For the past 16 years of my life, I have been privileged enough to be immersed in the world of hockey without facing discrimination or injustices.

Sadly, many children do not have that same opportunity.

Throughout my life, on and off the ice, I have been an advocate for equity and inclusion in sports and believe that no matter one's gender, race, religion, or sexuality, they deserve equal opportunity to play the game. In that spirit, I’m honored and proud to be the coach of the African Hockey Association Program.

The goal of the African Canadian Association of Ottawa’s new program is to help break down barriers faced by many children and families in sports, such as racial discrimination and socio-economic challenges. We want to make the world of hockey more diverse and show that anyone can play.

In my final years in the sport, I played on the Carleton Ravens’ women’s varsity hockey team before sustaining a major concussion in my second year. I’m now a third-year student pursuing journalism with a minor in community engagement.

Back in October 2021, I was assigned a news story from my professor, and I reached out to the African Canadian Association of Ottawa in hopes of an interview to support the story. From there, I was put into contact with Godlove Ngwafusi, the co-founder of the African Hockey Association, along with Steve Leon.

One day after a team practice, I was sitting in the dressing room at the Carleton Ice House awaiting Ngwafusi on a Zoom call. While interviewing Ngwafusi, he asked where I was located during the interview, and we then started to talk hockey. The next day, I got a call from Leon asking me to volunteer with the new program. I was beyond excited to get involved in such an amazing initiative.

It goes without saying that hockey is one of the most expensive sports to participate in, and most children that play are predominantly white. In August 2019, Scotiabank and FlipGive surveyed more than 1,000 Canadian and American hockey parents. Nearly 60 percent of respondents stated they spend over $5,000 a year on hockey fees for one child to play, with only three percent of respondents claiming they spend less than $1,200. How is that cost feasible for middle- and lower-income families?

That said, to eliminate the fees, the weekly ice slots for the African Hockey Association are donated by Hockey Eastern Ontario and David Loehr, president of the Ottawa Centre Minor Hockey Association. In addition, all of the players' equipment is donated by Next Shift Canada – a Canadian non-profit aiming to “make hockey accessible to every child possible.”

After the call from Leon, I began to attend practice sessions at the Jim Durrell Arena in the Herongate community every Sunday morning. As members of the coaching staff, we taught the players the fundamentals of the sport while engaging in games throughout the session.

Amarkai Laryea, Ngwafusi and I ignited the program for the second season in a row in November 2022 after a fantastic season of smiles and development from over 30 kids.

As many coaches were unable to return this season, I decided to take on a larger role within the group as the head coach. That said, I am very lucky to coach alongside coach Laryea and coach Abbas Kwofie this year. We have 37 kids signed up, both girls and boys, between the ages of four to 15 with a range of skill levels. Due to the various levels, the coaches and parent volunteers divide the ice into sections and teach kids appropriately based on their experience and level of skill/understanding.

The kids itch to get on that ice every Sunday at noon. We structure practices as so: foundational skills for 25 minutes, following a game of the kids' choice, and ending with a scrimmage to introduce positions and rules and to simply let them play “Timbits hockey.” Conversations on the ice before we start drills normally become comical debates about which variation of tag we’ll play on that day at the end of the practice – it's the highlight for many of the kids.

Most recently, our team has collaborated with Black History Ottawa and the Ottawa Senators for a development session, commemorative game and the Senators Black History Month Awareness Game.

Jean-Marie Guerrier, vice-president of BHO, arranged for our group to practise with several Ottawa Senators alumni on Feb. 7, followed by the opportunity to watch a commemorative game in honor of Black History Month and the Coloured Hockey League of the Maritimes established in 1895.

The kids were ecstatic to be on the ice with the alumni players – they loved it! It was an opportunity for them to be on the “big stage” at the Canadian Tire Centre and visually see what they can do in their futures after being coached by Ottawa Senators alumni Llew Ncwana. Ncwana, who’s from Ottawa, played NCAA hockey at Bowling Green University in the early 1990s and attended the Sens’ training camp in 1992 before going on to play in the ECHL and low minors.

“Representation matters,” said parent Melissa Pierre-Sossoyan. “The fact that the kids see other kids that look like them makes them understand that they are capable and they have their place as much as anyone.”

On Feb. 13, the team was also invited to watch an Ottawa Senators contest against the Calgary Flames in the Black History Month Awareness Game. Two of our players, Christabel Bih and Jayden Mforteh, took part in the ceremonial puck drop prior to the game.

Being a part of this program has opened my eyes to the true meaning of sport. To come to the rink on Sundays and watch these kids skate, fall, and get back up 10 times over and still see their faces beaming with joy is the highlight of my week. Their faces light up as soon as they hit that ice – and that is what this sport is truly all about.

Everyone deserves the opportunity to have fun and learn in a safe atmosphere, and that is exactly why the African Hockey Association program exists.