Hockey Canada Dressing Room,
Gender Expression/ Gender Identity policies Hockey Canada recently updated several national policies in alignment with Safe Sport principles. Hockey Canada’s new Dressing Room Policy is based upon creating safe, inclusive and equitable dressing room environments that are designated team spaces for everyone, while providing proper supervision. The policy balances the safety, privacy, modesty and wishes of our participants without compromising the aspects of camaraderie, social integration and bonding inherent in a team sport. The policy applies to all minor hockey teams sanctioned by Hockey Canada. Hockey Canada’s Gender Expression/ Gender Identity Policy commits to being more inclusive to transgender and non-binary participants. The policy spells out the practical considerations and needs to address often invisible and unique challenges that transgender and non-binary athletes face. This includes treatment, eligibility, registration and dressing rooms. The Hockey Canada policies, along with supporting FAQ, resource and implementation documents, can be found on the Hockey Canada website. The Dressing Room policy has been linked on the Hockey Alberta website’s Bylaws and Regulations page. Implementation of the Dressing Room Policy will require cooperative efforts from coaches, parents, players and other volunteers at the local level. The Hockey Canada documents discuss many questions and provide clarification for situations that may arise. We recognize the challenges (for example, physical limitations of some facilities) that may arise from the Dressing Room Policy for our Minor Hockey Associations. We are committed to working with our Members on implementation and we have identified some areas where further clarification is needed from Hockey Canada. For example, Hockey Canada is updating the FAQ document on “base layer”, and that information will be shared once available. If you have questions, please forward those to Drew Dixon, Senior Manager, Member Development and we will identify the best way to share and communicate updates. |
