By C. Gary Greenham
It’s a hockey tournament with a twist. Easter weekend will play host to the third consecutive gay hockey tournament in Ottawa, the National Capital Face-Off.
“We’re starting to get more teams participating and that’s really important in boosting the tournament’s popularity,” says tournament organizer Stephen Rowe. “We’ve got seven teams signed up now and we’re looking for an eighth. Eight is a good tournament number.”
The co-ed tournament has much appeal outside Ottawa, drawing entries from Toronto, Montreal and the United States. There are local entries too, the Ottawa Trojans and the Ottawa-Hull Gladiators.
Rowe, who is gay, says he left hockey in peewee (a minor hockey division for early teens) but not at the hands of gay bashing.
“I’m just getting back into hockey now. I left around 15 years ago,” says Rowe. “It was all of those early morning practices. Early mornings at like six was the only time we could get ice time in peewee and I hated getting up that early.”
Mitch Leduc has played hockey for 10 years and says she enjoys the Easter weekend tournament immensely. She played in it last year too.
“Being from the gay community a lot of us think the same way and enjoy the same things and people won’t disregard us about our lifestyle,” she says.
Leduc says the National Capital Face-Off tournament offers a unique benefit that other co-ed hockey games might be missing.
“Straight men tend to take over the game and show off for the women,” says Leduc. “There are no showboats in these games, which is nice.”
Leduc played in the tournament last year and says the most satisfying thing was being able to keep up with the men.
“There were two girls on our team and our opponents didn’t even know we were women until after the game when we shook hands,” she says. “To know that I had the skill and capacity to keep pace with the men was the most satisfying thing from last year.”
Leduc says there isn’t necessarily a need for the tournament as far as the lesbian community is concerned. She says 50 per cent of players in woman’s leagues are lesbian.
But Rowe says the atmosphere is an important factor about this tournament.
“It’s just a lot of fun and I’m comfortable in my environment personally when I play.”