Movember Named Official Men’s Health Partner of the OHL by the Ontario Hockey League
TORONTO — The Ontario Hockey League (OHL) announced today a new partnership with Movember, the leading global charity dedicated to men’s health, that brings Movember’s Breaking the Ice mental health program to all 20 OHL clubs.
Representatives from all 20 OHL teams attended facilitator training at Hockley Valley Resort on Aug. 16, where players and team staff were trained to deliver the program directly within their own team environments this season.
Breaking the Ice is Movember’s mental health program built for the hockey community, designed with input from players, coaches and families. It delivers mental health literacy, resilience training and awareness campaigns across the full club environment — players, coaches and parents alike.
At the centre of the OHL rollout is Got Your Back, a one-hour workshop that introduces participants to common mental health challenges, how to recognize when a teammate may be struggling and what they can do to help. Those sessions will be delivered inside OHL dressing rooms by the players and staff trained in August.
“Our players spend their formative years in our rinks and in our communities, and we have a responsibility to support them as people first,” said OHL Commissioner Bryan Crawford. “That work doesn’t rest on any one program. The mental health partners already supporting our clubs, including the Canadian Mental Health Association, remain central to it. Breaking the Ice adds a piece we haven’t had — a conversation led by the players themselves. Having every one of our 20 clubs in the room in August said a lot about how seriously our teams take that.”
“Young men are often more likely to open up when the conversation comes from someone they trust,” said Ramond Phipps, Program Manager, Young Men’s Health, Movember. “That’s what makes this partnership with the OHL so exciting. By putting players at the centre of these conversations, Breaking the Ice can help make talking about mental health and looking out for one another a more natural part of being on a team.”
Workshop delivery begins across OHL markets this fall, with additional partnership activations with Movember to be announced in the weeks ahead.
About Movember
Movember is the leading global movement working to change the face of men’s health for good.
Since 2003, Movember’s community has raised more than $1.8 billion CAD, funding over 1,320 projects in men’s mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer.
Movember will continue working alongside communities and expert partners to challenge the status quo, drive innovative research, and scale evidence-based programs that address the most complex challenges facing men’s health and society today.
To learn more, please visit Movember.com.
