Chancing Concussions

Pockets of hockey dads huddle and conspire while drinking their warm, morning coffees within Phil White Arena in Toronto. You can hear whispers of advocacy, feel an atmosphere of community and guess that each group is thinking the same thing: Why did we have to do this?

“I don’t think the Greater Toronto Hockey League [GTHL] cares about concussion injuries,” says Neil Clifford, one of five directors running the new Toronto Non-Contact Hockey League (TNCHL). He also coaches his son’s team, one of the league’s three teams made up of 11-and-12 year-olds. Behind the bench, he keeps warm by hiding under a tightly pulled blue Chevy Re-Evolution cap, his jacket’s high collar cutting across his crimson cheeks. Read more