I was born in Detroit. Hockeytown, the self-applied nickname derived from the successes of our region's fabled Red Wings. I grew up watching "Hockey Night In Canada" in black-and-white on Saturday nights with my dad and brothers. I loved Gordie Howe. But I couldn't stand on a pair of ice skates if my life depended on it.

Still, I loved the sport and to some extent, still do. A Frankenstein-like combination of grace and power, of amazing skills and brute force.

That's why I was thrilled to find out about Team Trans, a hockey league populated by trans players.

Founded in 2019, the organization came out of a discussion in the wake of an intramural hockey game between a gay team from Boston and another from New York City. While the two teams had both cis and trans players on them, one of the New York players, Aidan Cleary, suggested the idea of a "a space just for transgender athletes."

"Cleary contacted Boston Pride Hockey Vice President Mark Tikonoff about how they might recruit a full team of trans players."

“'We have a few trans members, but not enough to make an entire team, so we started to reach out — to other cities we play with in national tournaments — San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Canada — to see if there were other players who might be interested in something like this,' Tikonoff said."

From this humble beginning, Team Trans claims some 500 players internationally. The two main chapters are the Boston Team Trans, which is supported by the more established Boston Pride organization, and the more recently formed Team Trans Twin Cities in Minneapolis.

The good news is that the concept is catching on. The Seattle Pride Hockey Association invited Team Trans to participate in an invitational tournament in 2023. And a few years back, the Madison [Wisconsin] Gay Hockey Association played a friendship game against Team Trans.

Surprisingly, there doesn't appear to be a Team Trans game scheduled here in Hockeytown anytime soon. Boo.

I would be remiss if I didn't point out that you can help support Team Trans by purchasing some of the cool merch on the respective team's sites.

Team Trans Twin Cities sells a good selection of t-shirts and jerseys:

https://teamlocker.squadlocker.com/#/lockers/team-trans-tc

And the Boston-based Team Trans a less regionally specific selection of shirts that may be more to your liking:

https://teamlocker.squadlocker.com/#/lockers/team-trans-282536?_k=zh3sqh

But it would sure be nice to see their angry trans unicorn bursting out of a mitten logo some time!

--- Anni

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