A hockey tournament designed with a special community in mind is back in Toronto for another year of summertime hockey.
Thanks to a certain Crave-based series, Queer hockey has taken Canada by storm. But before Heated Rivalry, and even before the PWHL, two organizers in Toronto were creating space for Queer women and Transgender folks to hit the ice via the annual Toronto Pride Hockey Tournament (TPHT).
This weekend, Etobicoke’s Ford Performance Centre will see over 250 Sapphic, Trans, and Gender-Diverse hockey players come together for the fourth annual tournament, an event organizers say is about far more than competition.
“[Hockey] can feel very exclusionary if you feel like you don’t have a place, and you feel like you don’t fit in within locker room culture,” co-founder Sheri Krell told Queer & Now ahead of the event, adding that the tournament aims to create a place for participants to be themselves.
Running from May 29-30 and featuring a schedule of games, vendors, and social events, this year’s event serves as the unofficial kick-off of Toronto’s Pride celebrations, and is sure to be nothing short of spectacular. But while Queer hockey is trendy right now, the idea for the tournament came to Krell almost five years ago.
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Toronto Pride Hockey Tournament
Founded in 2022 by Krell and friend/co-organizer Liz Dewdney, the TPHT was born from a desire to create an affirming space for Queer and Trans players at a time when many felt increasingly alienated from hockey culture.
“I’ve always had a love for hockey and a love for the Queer community, and I really wanted to merge these ideas with my expertise in building community,” Krell explained, adding that she felt there was a need to create this inclusive tournament for Queer women and Trans folks in particular.
The idea of hosting a tournament that would serve that purpose came in late 2021, after a conversation between the friends while en route to a Hanukkah party.
“She just sort of turned to me and said, ‘Do you want to start a hockey tournament?’” Dewdney told Queer & Now. “The second the words were out of her mouth, ideas were already forming in my head.”
In just four years, the event has grown rapidly, starting with a sold-out inaugural tournament in June 2022, and now growing year-over-year into a major event that many look forward to attending annually.
“The success that took off in year one, where we filled out, we sold out right away, really spoke to a testament that there was a real need in the community to bring folks together in this way,” Krell said.
Beyond hockey games and friendly, if not heated, rivalry, the weekend will also feature a Queer vendor market, appearances from PWHL players, a family skate, a beer garden fundraiser, and a Saturday night community party open to the public.
A safe, accessible space in the face of scrutiny
This year’s tournament comes amid ongoing political debates around Trans participation in sports, including Alberta’s Fairness and Safety in Sport Act, which prohibits Transgender athletes 12 and older from competing in women’s sports, and ongoing scrutiny of Trans athletes internationally.
Against that backdrop, organizers say the tournament is planned out intentionally, with a special focus on creating a space where Queer women, Transgender, and other gender-diverse players feel welcomed, rather than scrutinized.
“I’ve heard so many stories of Trans players who felt like they could not play hockey after they transitioned, and felt they had to give up that part of their identity,” Krell shared.
She explained that their tournaments’ focus on accessibility and creating a welcoming, positive atmosphere has helped many players reconnect with the sport after years away.
“A lot of folks have found their way back to hockey as a result of our tournament; they’re joining various leagues, and they’re telling us that this tournament was a real turning point,” she said, explaining that many found that participating in the TPHT allowed them to fall back in love with hockey.
Accessibility has also become a growing focus of the event, with organizers trying to reduce barriers to participation beyond the rink itself. This year, the tournament partnered with the Alphabet Sports Collective to launch a free shuttle service called the “Pride Ride” between The 519, located at Church and Wellesley, and the Ford Performance Centre in Etobicoke.
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The tournament has also created a sensory room this year, and has a continuing partnership with Sledge Pride Hockey, the local wheelchair Queer league for those using adapted sleds created for players with physical disabilities.
“We really try to factor in various ways to kind of make hockey more accessible, with more ways to incorporate people into the hockey community,” Krell shared, explaining that their focus is always improving the event.
“We’re always trying to think ‘How do we improve this?’ or ‘How do we remove barriers?’ and ‘How do we create this to be a more inclusive space for everybody?’,” she explained.
For organizers, the tournament’s growth reflects a larger hunger for Queer-centred sports spaces, particularly in hockey, where traditional locker room culture has historically left many players feeling isolated.
But perhaps the tournament’s biggest success cannot be measured in goals, standings or attendance numbers. At a moment when Queer and Trans athletes are actively being pushed out of sports spaces politically and culturally, the Toronto Pride Hockey Tournament is doing just the opposite: making room for 2SLGBTQ+ athletes to be themselves.
