Play for a Purpose

A charity hockey event for Players Against Hate

Mission and Goals

Players Against Hate is determined to increase awareness and stop racism and name-calling by youth athletes, their teams and coaches, their families, and spectators.

This will be done by:

1) Developing educational materials against hate to be used to teach players, coaches, officials, sports organizations, and spectators that hate has no place on the bench, in the game, or in the stands.

2) Sponsoring scholarships with monies raised by Players Against Hate to support athletes of color who want to play sports that have traditionally been less diverse.

3) Growing the movement beyond hockey to other youth sports where hate impacts the athletes.

History

Payers Against Hate came to fruition under exceedingly unfortunate circumstances. In 2018, then thirteen-year-old Divyne Apollon II was the victim of racially motivated taunts and slurs during a youth hockey tournament in Bowie, Maryland.

Divyne's teammates found out about racial harassment during a tournament - and they were incensed. As the taunts persisted, the game became increasingly rough, and when the final buzzer sounded, a fight between the two sides ensued on the ice. While Divyne had grown somewhat accustomed to the taunts hurled by opponents, his teammates, their parents, and his coaches were shocked and outraged to learn of the abuse he had been facing. In the end, Divyne was suspended for the remainder of the tournament and forced to watch the final games from the stands.

To show support for her son's friend and teammate, Tammi Lynch chose to design a special logo in the hours following the fight. Putting her graphic design skills to use, she created the hockey stick crossing out the word "Racism" which is now used as the Players Against Hate logo.

The team placed the stickers on their sticks for the remainder of the tournament, with parents and other supporters donning the logo on their shirts. What began as a simple show of support quickly picked up tremendous momentum. Divyne's father, Divyne Sr., co-founder of Players Against Hate, posted a picture of the stickers on social media and was inundated with messages of support from across the country. Along with messages, he received hundreds of requests from other hockey teams wanting stickers for their players' helmets.

Inspired by the unexpected attention gained through the logo, Lynch and Apollon Sr. officially started Players Against Hate in January of 2019. Since then, Lynch has worked to build a safe community for those who have been victims of racial injustice by educating the public and acknowledging the problems that have existed in the sport of hockey. As a teacher and life-long educator, Tammi was struck by the realization that data related to discriminatory incidents in youth hockey were not being gathered. To better understand and track such information, Players Against Hate developed a first of its kind Incident Reporting System.

Through PAH's website, individuals who have been victimized by racially motivated attacks during youth hockey games are able to submit information related to their incident. This information includes, but is not limited to, the type of harassment that occurred, the age of the participants and whether the incident was reported to authorities. In the tracking system's first year, nearly 100 reports have been submitted.

Moving forward, Players Against Hate is developing a curriculum aimed at teaching young athletes how to navigate incidences of discrimination, celebrate diversity, and end systemic racism in hockey. The curriculum will be module-based, with youth players working through the lessons over a number of years. Currently, the curriculum is made up of five separate modules, including Caring for Self, Attending to Relationships, Responding to Difference, Envisioning a New Way and Solidarity for Belonging. The modules are designed to be easily digestible, with each subject broken down into phases that can be taught in the locker room prior to practice or games.

Teaching children these skills will provide a generational shift in the youth hockey ecosystem and help better prepare athletes to respond to potential situations. Players Against Hate is also intent on creating curriculum for adults, including coaches, referees and league officials who are responsible for overseeing youth hockey teams.

Players Against Hate has gained significant attention from across North America, with youth hockey teams eager to spread the organization's mission. By pairing the curriculum with the Incident Reporting system, Players Against Hate believes that the programs can be fine-tuned based on the needs of a specific geographical or socio-economic area. By aggregating the data collected by the reporting software, Players Against Hate will be able to detect what patterns or trends emerge. This information will then be used to inform them of improvements that can be made to the curriculum.

As a strictly volunteer organization, Players Against Hate is always looking for volunteers dedicated to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in the game. If you are anyone you know may be interested in volunteering, please visit the Players Against Hate website at www.PlayersAgainstHate.org.