Roots and Rinks: How the Women of Colour Hockey Collective Brought the Game to Jamaica

When Saroya Tinker began considering where the Women of Colour Hockey Collective should hold its first international clinic to promote the sport and distribute free equipment, one destination stood out above the rest: Jamaica.

For the Canadian-born Tinker and many members of the WCHC who maintain ancestral ties to the Caribbean nation, the venture offered a profound chance to give back. Over a three-day series of clinics held last weekend inside the Jamaican National Stadium in Kingston, roughly 150 Jamaican girls and boys were introduced to the sport.

A lot of gratitude. I mean very emotional, Tinker said. Just looking back and realizing that we got to impact a lot of our roots, and giving back to our community and introducing a game that we love, and we hope they’ll love as much as we do.

Tinker, a former professional hockey player who transitioned into broadcasting, helped co-found what was originally known as the Black Girl Hockey Club Canada before rebranding to the WCHC last year. Backed by the Professional Women’s Hockey League, the collective’s core mission centers on making hockey significantly more accessible to women and girls of color.

Following years of localized programming and clinics across Canada—and a notable milestone hosting three girls from Kenya a year ago—the WCHC broadened its geographical footprint internationally. Fifteen collective members, consisting of women playing at elite collegiate and professional levels, made the trip to Kingston. Among them was Canadian national team and PWHL Vancouver defender Sophie Jaques.

I think getting kids involved in any sport is great for them, said Jaques, whose father is Jamaican. Showing them that people of their heritage are very successful in the sport, and there’s opportunities for them in the sport I think is a great lesson.

The Logistics of Access: Partnering with Swift Hockey

To execute the international expansion, the WCHC collaborated with Swift Hockey, a Canadian enterprise specializing in manufacturing and selling hockey sticks at more accessible price points. The company was founded by Zechariah Thomas, a former minor leaguer and veteran of the Jamaican national ice hockey team who also grew up with Jamaican parents in Oshawa, Ontario.

Accessibility is something I speak on very publicly within hockey, where I felt a lot of people around me didn’t have accessibility, Thomas explained. Reflecting on his upbringing, he added, A lot of kids I went to school with are now in jail or in prison or dead. And it’s such a big factor in my story noticing that none of them had sports. So anything to make sports more accessible is super important.

From Learn-to-Play to Stick-Handling on the Turf

The majority of the participants at the National Stadium were completely new to the game, a group that included local foster children. The curriculum focused heavily on foundational mechanics.

It was definitely very much grassroots learn to play, getting sticks in hands, teaching them how to stick handle, Tinker noted. And then by the end of it they were running with the ball and stick-handling and shooting. So I think it was great.

To ensure long-term engagement after the delegation departed, the WCHC left behind 75 sticks, essential goalie equipment, balls, and collective T-shirts.

For the visiting athletes, the exchange proved mutually transformative. As much as we teach the kids, there’s so much to learn from them, Jaques observed. Their futures are so bright. And it’s just kind of opening their eyes to the fact that anything they want to do is possible.