News

Playing hockey is good for us all. It gives us health, happiness and critical life and leadership skills. But there’s a problem. Girls drop out of sport at 2x the rate of boys. Why? Not because they don’t love the game. Because they don’t have female coaches and role models. Just 6% of coaches in Canada identify as female. 

That’s a big loss for society and our business community. So when we found out that the Future of Hockey Lab (FHL) was working to solve that problem, we knew we had to find a way to support them. That’s how we became a partner for the first FHL Power Play: a 3-day innovation sprint (or workshop), being led by the lab in Halifax from May 31-June 2, 2024. 

As part of a longer-term initiative, the sprint will use innovation tools and techniques to develop Minimum Viable Products, (or solution prototypes) to test out 2 ideas to rapidly grow female coaching in hockey. The first is a support network for new coaches to help them navigate a predominantly male, sometimes difficult environment. The second is a mentoring strategy to connect female-identifying coaches with male allies to help them succeed while increasing advocacy and action among men in the hockey ecosystem. 

Based right here in Nova Scotia, the FHL is the only social innovation lab in the world dedicated to equity in hockey. As an independent nonprofit, they bring together diverse partners, innovation experts and community members to tackle the root cause of systemic and cultural barriers to a more inclusive and accessible game. 

In addition to their work on accelerating female leadership in hockey, the FHL also runs a data-driven project called Open Ice that tackles the issue of ice access. By developing a technology platform for rink managers and users, the team hopes to optimize and grow ice access for everyone who wants to play. 

We’re excited about the potential of this work to increase equity across our social and economic systems, and look forward to sharing learnings from the lab in the future.