Skating on thin ice? An interrogation of Canada’s melting pastime

Abstract

ABSTRACT Outdoor hockey is considered a quintessentially “Canadian” leisure pursuit, and is enjoyed on rinks constructed in local parks within urban centres as well as on frozen ponds in rural regions of the country. Such experiences are being threatened, however, due to increasingly warming winter months and shortened skating seasons caused by climate change. This paper explores the meaning behind the loss of outdoor hockey for Canadians by outlining socio-historical narratives that posit hockey as a symbol of childhood memory, nationhood, and romanticized fantasy. Such fantasies are unsettled, however, when juxtaposed with the current realities of the game, which, rather than taking place in its “natural” state, occurs primarily indoors. The migration of hockey into climate-controlled facilities is symbolic of a Canadian physical activity culture that disproportionately favours organized, competitive sport. This privileging of organized sport has not been met, however, with increased physical activity amongst the majority of Canadian youth, especially amongst low socio-economic communities. Such inequities when it comes to sport and play are exacerbated within the hockey realm, where class, racialized, and gender distinctions are more pronounced than within other athletic endeavours. In response, we posit a construction of outdoor hockey not as a romanticized fantasy of the past, but as a potential social space conducive to unstructured play, community revitalization, and inclusivity that transcends these barriers to the current state of hockey. Under current climate change projections, the potential for such spaces continues to slowly melt away.