Hockey Diversity Alliance (HDA) marks five years of grassroots growth with its Summer Fest in Toronto, drawing 2,200 attendees from diverse backgrounds to meet NHL stars and sports figures. The event underscores the HDA’s mission to widen hockey’s reach beyond the rink, a core goal since its 2020 founding amid national protests. Founders Akim Aliu and Wayne Simmonds celebrate tangible progress—reviving community programs, keeping costs down for thousands of kids, and proving the movement’s sincerity. Yet funding and expansion remain the biggest hurdles, as the HDA eyes Vancouver and Chicago while pushing for a potential, eventually aligned partnership with the NHL. The narrative centers on access, inclusion, and a future where hockey is reachable for all socio-economic brackets, not just the traditional pipeline.

Five years ago, the HDA emerged from a group chat into a formal coalition with a bold eight-point pledge and a separate, independent path from the NHL. The organization’s early months faced skepticism and blowback, but its grassroots focus has yielded measurable gains: roughly 1,500 youths are in programs offering 22–26 weeks of free hockey, with 40% girls and 30% white participants and an 80% retention rate. Since 2022, clinics in the Greater Toronto Area have expanded to Montreal and Halifax, with Vancouver on the horizon and talks of Chicago. The aim remains simple: grow the game, make it affordable, and build a more inclusive hockey culture that broadens the talent pool for the next generation.