“WE’RE STILL PUSHING”
C hris George is an optimist. The long-ago Colorado Avalanche draft pick has used his smarts, grit and people-person charisma to build a wonderful post-hockey Bay Street career. His chin-up approach, though, is by no means the result of walking a pleasant path to get where he is; this is a person who has felt the brunt of racism in ways both openly violent and harder to detect.
In the past few years, George began examining his life experiences in greater depth — from being the only Black kid in a dressing room to the only Black man in a boardroom — and his takeaways have helped propel him into action. He’s part of the BlackNorth Initiative, which aims to remove anti-Black systemic barriers with a business-first mindset. He’s also part of the Hockey Diversity Alliance’s advisory group, comprised of people from different disciplines who support the front-facing NHL stars headlining the organization. A family man and wealth advisor who will turn 45 this year, George says he continues to learn things about himself and our flawed society through the work he’s doing. Expect the education and the effort to continue.
SPORTSNET: How did the Hockey Diversity Alliance come into your life?
CHRIS GEORGE: I’ve been on Bay Street for 20 years and have always done some work with athletes. My phone rang in May or June [of 2020] and it was some of the boys [I already knew] and the next thing I knew I was on a Zoom call. I remember I was up at the cottage and I had to cancel a tee time. I thought, “I think I have to take this call.” And I’m on a Zoom call with all these icons of Black hockey, like Trevor Daley, Wayne Simmonds and Matt Dumba. I had a pretty good relationship with Nazem Kadri, but it was kind of introducing myself a little bit to the gang. I told them about some of my work in the community with BlackNorth and some of the stuff we were working on. And then they explained their vision and explained where they were as an organization and I’m like, “If you guys are looking for a Black hockey player on Bay Street to help you out, I think it’s going to be a short interview process — it’s me.” So after some chuckles, we ended up talking about what we can do to help. We just kind of organically connected the dots and put together a team to support the players.
What is the role of that supportive group?
You have to remember — and I think we sometimes lose this perspective — these are very young organizations. Even BlackNorth, it’s been barely two years. We’ve accomplished so much, but they’re still young organizations. I think the role of our group as advisors for the HDA was to help the players efficiently structure and offer some business guidance to the group, and then to activate resources or connections we had that could support their vision.
What was your experience like growing up in the 1980s and ’90s as, usually, the only Black kid in a hockey dressing room?
I don’t think it was something that I focused on, it was just a reality. I was a Black kid from Mississauga. I was fortunate enough to go to private school, which is also a white environment, and I played AAA hockey and I went to [and played hockey at] Western University, then I came to Bay Street. I was typically one of the few Black people in the room, and until I’ve had this recent moment to pause and really reflect I just never paid it that much mind.
It was just a battle I had — and maybe it’s even just the hockey mentality — but you put your head down and you do your best. I was always very goal-oriented and I was just focused on what I could control and the outcomes. I think now that I’m a 45-year-old man, I look back with a little more perspective and I see that perhaps some chips were stacked against me and some situations were more difficult for me — perhaps they made me stronger. We always talk about how, any hockey player, you play in the OHL, it’s a school of hard knocks and if you can make it, you can figure out how to build a business on Bay Street.
And then I’ve taken it one step further and realized if we have this opportunity where we have unprecedented support — especially north of the border, corporate Canada specifically — let’s pause and be deliberate as a community with how we guide them to support and make sure the journey is more equitable for the next generation. I really believe that’s what we’re doing.
If the way racism affected you in the moment wasn’t always clear, what’s it been like to cast back and see things in a different light?
One [instance] I remember very clearly: it was after George Floyd, [an unarmed Black man, was killed by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in May 2020], after the HDA had had some success. I was sitting down with some of my former teammates from the OHL. I won’t use names, but these are just great friends, 30-year relationships, and we were talking about our time in the OHL. I mentioned something about how a coach did not have a problem with me and all three of them — like the record skipped — and they looked at me like, “What are you talking about?” All three of them said, “I remember when I was a 16-year-old boy and my dad asked, ‘Why does the coach treat Georgie like that?’” And I didn’t realize it; I don’t think my dad was aware of it. That was just my reality. But now, as a 45-year-old man, my colleagues and peers and friends are like, “Yeah, Georgie, I remember my dad said you were treated differently.”
For that moment to happen, there clearly must have just been a different environment when I was around, and those are the things that, as I double-click on make me realize my path was different. My path has worked out fine, but I would like to be part of creating a different path for the next generation. Three white guys who I played with in the OHL reflecting on the glory days and we just kind of double clicked on what I thought was a normal relationship with a coach and they thought I was wrong.
Can you explain what happened to you when you were a student-athlete in London, Ont. playing for the Western Mustangs?
I was walking down the street and I was attacked by a biker. It started with racial slurs and it got very violent and I got, literally, knocked unconscious. He had brass knuckles on. I had stitches all over my head. And it was right downtown, almost at the steps of my apartment. It was disgusting. I was knocked unconscious, lying limp on the sidewalk. I [ended up being] okay, but I had to miss hockey because of a concussion and because I couldn’t put my helmet on, I had so many stitches in my head. I just remember thinking that I didn’t want to get in trouble and get kicked off the team for being that Black guy who is causing trouble. It was a scenario that I look back at and think, “How could I feel that guilt or concern?” The emotions I should have been going through should have been much different. If my kids were jumped on the street, we would do everything [to find the perpetrator and report the crime]. Nobody got charged, nothing was reported. And I was thankful that I didn’t get in trouble.
That’s truly terrifying. Can you describe some of the less overt ways you’ve been impacted?
As a Black athlete — and a big personality in most environments — part of what I end up trying to do is assimilating. As much as my Black individualism can be — should be — an advantage [because it brings diversity to a team], I didn’t really feel that and I always just tried to blend in because I had had a life where if you stick out too far, if you do something that isn’t in line, you’re cut or you’re called a bad apple — you get painted with that brush and that’s what happens very often. There are so many stories in sports where things that could be understood as being Black can be misunderstood as being disruptive. That’s a cultural thing and that’s something we’re evolving to get through, but we need guidance. If you want the strength diversity can bring to your team or your company, you need to learn how to embrace that and let those people bring their strength authentically. And that’s something that I’m still trying to do. I actually feel in the last couple years, I’ve further matured into a confidence where I can finally really be myself. I’m in a place and we’re in a moment where it’s being appreciated. People are asking me for my help and they’re [trying to] understand my perspective even more.
Seeing the way the HDA players have thrown themselves into the cause, it sure seems like the organization is in great hands.
I couldn’t agree more. When I was a professional athlete in my 20s, I don’t know if I had the presence of mind or the strength to be taking the time to do the work these guys are doing. This is a very big moment and these are young men — we forget, most of them are in their 20s — professional athletes living the dream, and you have no idea the amount of work these guys are putting in behind the scenes. The passion, the emotion; this is an opportunity that professional athletes could easily pass on and let it go by. The HDA players, those are nine players who said, “This is my opportunity” and they grabbed the conch and they’re running with it. It’s inspiring. It sounds cliché, but I’m literally just so happy to be able to help.
Working for equality is all about improving things for as many people possible, now and in the future. That said, I’m sure it’s been rewarding to throw yourself into such meaningful endeavours?
There’s a lot of good energy, and I don’t think we’re at the rewarding stage yet. We’re 20 months into this journey with the HDA and it hasn’t been rewarding yet — we’re still pushing. It’s nice to know we’re pushing in a direction that will be impactful, but the next stage, when we’re launching more programming, when we’re executing the plans — which is where we’re finally getting to — I think that will be the moment where you can finally take a breath and look back and say, “Okay guys, this is what you’ve done — this is what we’ve done — for the past two years and now look, there’s 10,000 kids we’re impacting.” That’s why [Matt Dumba] gave that speech [during the 2020 playoffs]. All of those little moments help get us to where we’re going to be.
You’ll hear my optimistic tone, but change does take time. When you find partners that you can set the example and tone with, then it’s easier for others to follow. We’ve been lucky that we’ve had some partners who have jumped beside the HDA immediately — Scotiabank, Kraft, Budweiser. BlackNorth, 500 companies signed the pledge [having their CEOs commit to addressing systemic anti-Black racism in their organizations]. Once the momentum goes in that direction, you’re going to be an outlier if you’re not supporting the growth. I think the snowball is rolling in the right direction.