Fighting Walleye to host 'Orange Wave Night' hockey game to honour Indigenous teammates

The game of hockey is meant to be a sport that's inclusive for all. But it's no secret that it hasn't always been that way for some athletes both on and off the ice.

The sport is no stranger to racism and discrimination, and that's why the Kam River Fighting Walleye is doing it's part to forge an inclusive environment for current and future players.

On March 12, the Junior A hockey team will be holding their Orange Wave Night to honour their Indigenous players. 

The team, whose home arena is based just outside of Thunder Bay, Ont., have created jerseys specifically for the event, which will be auctioned off to create scholarships for graduating Indigenous player to help further their post-secondary education.

"We came up with the idea of having a specialty jersey for the night and to auction those jerseys off before the game, or a week, and to see what sort of money we can bring in. And 100 percent of those proceeds will go through this to the scholarship," said Derek Geddes, president of the Kam River Fighting Walleye.

The first 500 fans to enter the arena on March 12 will also receive Orange Wave towels, and in the pre-game ceremony there will be drummers and the national anthem will be sung in Ojibwe. 

The jerseys themselves include the colours of the medicine wheel, red, white, black, and yellow, with the Fighting Walleye logo in the centre. 

Trenton Morrisseau plays on the team and said their sponsor, Warrior Supplies, did a great job with representing the medicine wheel, adding that it's a very important part of his culture.

He said he couldn't be more proud to not only wear the jersey, but show off his culture. Morrisseau said he's never really had the chance to do that, and is incredibly proud of growing up and coming from his community of Fort William First Nation.

"If I can share some of my culture and some of my background with the rest of our community, it just means a lot to me. And that's creating awareness [of] the great game of hockey," said Morrisseau.

"I think… it'll give the people from our community more insight on … some of the things we've kind of gone through and still continue to go through [to] this day," he added.

Matt Valley, coach for the Kam River Fighting Walleye, said the rest of the team is excited about the event and at its core, it's about awareness, education, inclusivity, and even reconciliation.

"It doesn't seem very often that we take the time to boil things down to what really matters. And I think events like this do," said Valley.

Valley is not only proud of his team and who they're shaping up to be, but also proud of Morrisseau who has made an impression on him.