'More acceptance': South Asian hockey summit in Edmonton targets diversity

Yahoo

27-07-2025

Dampy Brar never made it to the NHL, but he's made a major mark on the Canadian hockey scene.
He's travelled the country, to coach and mentors players from South Asian communities and other minority groups, trying to break the norm of hockey as Canada's, cough, white game.
Brar has played minor pro hockey in places as far-fluing as Toledo, Boise and Tacoma. He's played for teams that have marketing gimmick names like the Sabercats, Nighthawks and Storm. This weekend, Brar was on the ice at Edmonton's Downtown Community Arena, putting more than 30 kids of South Asian descent through a series of drills. The South Asian Summit is a collaborative effort between the AZ1 Hockey, South Asian Hockey and the Oilers, and it was designed to make the rink a welcoming place for players of colour.
Brar is 49. He was a child of the first large wave of Indian immigrants to Canada. Culturally, there was a stigma against taking sport too seriously, or going into the arts. Families who had sacrificed so much to come to Canada wanted their kids to gain the prestige and financial security that came with science, law and medicine. As well, hockey was seen as a sport that was very, very white (which it was). So, as he came up through the minor-hockey ranks, Brar felt isolated.
Now, in 2025, Brar sees a game that has turned the corner. The Abbotsford Canucks just won the AHL's Calder Cup, and featured Arshdeep Bains and former Oiler Jujhar Khaira. The team was coached by Manny Malhotra. Hockey Night in Punjabi has become a national staple. Zayne Parekh was a first-round draft pick of the Calgary Flames in 2024. Chanreet Bassi was taken by Vancouver in this year's PWHL draft. Harnarayan Singh's voice is often heard on Hockey Night in Canada. All the South Asian community is waiting for is the big NHL star. And that's why programs like the South Asian Summit are so important, to give kids the chance to receive instruction and mentorship from coaches who look like them.
'It's coming together for the game of hockey,' said Brar, who won the NHL's Willie O'Ree Award in 2020 for his work with Apna Hockey alongside former collaborator Lali Toor. The award recognizes individuals or organizations that help make the game more accessible and diverse. Brar left Apna a year ago.
'I've seen that transition from very few people who look like me, and now there's lots. Like you walk in arenas in Delta, Surrey, Calgary, Edmonton, Brampton, and we see a lot of our familiar faces. The culture of hockey is now changing as well. There is more acceptance now, but we still have to continue to do what we do,' said Brar.
'We need to do this for our community because there's a lot of passion in the game. If you look at season-ticket holders for Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, even Toronto, in all these areas there are so many South Asians, so many Punjabi families that are taking time of their schedule and paying the money for those season tickets… I think it's needed here for the kids to be inspiring and motivated to have coaches who look like them and have other players in the dressing them that look like them.
'Once we have those players in the NHL, it inspires not only the kids, it inspires the parents who are putting the effort for the sacrifice of money and spending time at the rink.'
One of Brar's fondest memories was representing Team India, as a ball hockey player. A decade and a half ago, his team faced the Czechs. He recalled that thousands of fans came to the arena in the then-named Czech Republic. But it was powerful to go into the dressing room and hear language and music that was close to home. Even Punjabi swearing felt comforting.
Arjun Atwal is the founder of AZ1 Hockey, and was a nominee for this year's Willie O'Ree Award. He was also on the ice with the kids this weekend.
'We have such a diverse country. We have so much diversity in the main fields like medicine, law,' he said. 'Hockey's such an important sport in our own country. Why can't we see the diversity there? So having gone through that path as a player, it's huge for me to see more people like me, so that's why it's so important and near and dear to me.'
Atwal played for the Sherwood Park Crusaders and the University of Calgary. And, from experience, he understands what keeps so many potential players of colour away from the rink.
'I think it's a little bit of familiarity and comfort,' he said. 'Like I said, you walk into rooms, you walk into tryouts, you see maybe one friend of yours, maybe one person that looks like you. You might have other friends, but you don't see many BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour) players, especially South Asians. So I think that kind of scares kids, maybe makes them all uncomfortable, and then maybe they want to go play soccer or the next sport.'
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