When I learned to play ice hockey, I searched for a hockey team to put new my skills to use and play. Unfortunately, the previous gay hockey team disbanded a couple of years ago. No other attempts ever materialized to revive another hockey team. I decided DC once again deserved their own inclusive hockey team in the nation’s capital. 

With a couple of hockey players, we stitched together past and present hockey players to develop a tangible strategy moving forward over Sunday brunch at Bistro Bohem. In late 2018, Gay Hockey Washington DC (GHDC) was founded. 

Due to a lack of formal guidance on building any hockey team, we reached out to more established hockey teams like the New York City Gay Hockey Association and Boston Pride to gauge their own organization’s experiences and understand their partnerships with both the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins respectively. We also tapped our own individual talents and combined hockey experience to form the new hockey team. 

Due to the 2018 Caps’ Stanley Cup victory, interest in hockey and ice skating classes for youth and adults increased around the DC-Maryland-Virginia (DMV) area. GHDC offers an opportunity to share the love of hockey with former hockey players as well as other out athletes. 

GHDC is an inclusive Q-straight hockey team. Our goal is to promote sportsmanship, elevate individual and team hockey skill levels, join team stick-n-shoot and scrimmage events, hockey skill clinics, engage in outreach and strategic partnerships with other hockey teams to overcome homophobia in the sport, and promote hockey within our diverse community. 

Regards,

Justin #73

Gay Hockey DC (GHDC), Founder and Executive Director