PWHL Partners With Leagues To Form Respect Hockey Culture Center

The PWHL has partnered with leagues across North America in the formation of the Respect Hockey Culture Center.

The PWHL will join with leagues across North America including the USHL, AHL, ECHL, OHL, QMJHL, and WHL to form the Respect Hockey Culture Center. The new project will be a centralized platform for players, coaches, and team and league employees to receive mental health supports, and report incidents of bullying, abuse, harassment, and discrimination in the game.

“We all play an important role in making hockey safe and inclusive for everyone, and collaborative initiatives like this demonstrate a collective commitment to this mission,” said Jayna Hefford, PWHL senior vice president of hockey operations in a league news release. "The PWHL is proud to join leagues across North America partnering with the Respect Hockey Culture Center to provide resources and support for athletes and staff to eradicate bullying, abuse, harassment, and discrimination from our game.”

The new platform will be operated by an independent third-part group, REES Community (Respect, Educate, Empower Survivors) who work "across sectors and industries to reduce barriers to reporting and gather data to mitigate risk and inform prevention."

The initiative was made possible across the leagues via a grant from the NHL.