An ice hockey team made up of transgender players took the ice over the weekend in Wisconsin to compete in a friendship series against the Madison Gay Hockey Association.
“Team Trans” is reportedly the first completely transgender sports team in America and went undefeated in six games during the weekend’s two-day tournament in Middleton, Wisconsin.
Similar plans to get together were cut short by the pandemic, but Team Trans, which was founded in Boston in 2019, was adamant about reuniting in an area with many LGBT hockey players, according to NBC News.
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While gay and transgender hockey leagues and teams have existed for decades, it has been difficult for transgender players to fit in because they would likely be the only transgender person on their team, the outlet stated.
Um…we pretty. ??? #TransIsBeautiful #RepresentationMatters #LetTransKidsPlay #TransJoy #HockeyIsForEveryone pic.twitter.com/xkfgRHEcPt
— Team Trans Ice Hockey (@teamtranshockey) November 20, 2021
“I keep meeting people that I’ve barely spoken to or haven’t spoken to directly, and I feel like I already know them in a way, just because of the shared experiences that we’ve had in hockey spaces,” said Mason LeFebvre, a goalie for Team Trans.
“It’s just casual and comfortable from the start. We’re not going to ask each other a bunch of awkward questions that other people might ask if they know we’re trans,” LeFebvre added. “Then, we talk about other things that would be completely off the table for conversations with mostly cis[gender] people.”
A center for Team Trans echoed LeFebvre.
“It’s feeling like you don’t have to get over a bunch of awkward hurdles before you can just exist together in a space,” said Avery Cordingley.
“Last night, I picked up a player at the airport at 11 o’clock, and we’re instantly chatting,” Cordingley said. “We both have the experience of, like, ‘Are we going to be able to keep playing hockey if we choose to transition?’ And we didn’t even have to go into that. We’re just like, ‘Yeah, I’ve played hockey here and here and here.'”
Team Trans is made up of three teams separated by skill level.
Cordingley and LeFebvre, who first began playing hockey on girls’ teams, found there was always a drive to prove their skills in the male-dominated sport, the two players said.
In case we haven’t mentioned it enough lately… pic.twitter.com/j8sxVuhYNo
— Team Trans Ice Hockey (@teamtranshockey) November 18, 2021
The two feel that it’s essential for those pushing to ban transgender children from playing on sports teams that align with the gender they identify with to get to know the athletes and understand the consequences of such policies.
“Everyone wants that team, everyone wants to feel like they belong, everyone wants to play the game that brings them joy,” Cordingley said. “We’re not blowing the competition away — we’re very average.”
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People who want to ban transgender sports “just need to watch trans athletes compete and realize they are just athletes who happen to be trans,” LeFebvre said.
