Hockey is Canada’s national sport, and everyone deserves a chance to play it — especially the underrepresented minority. Saroya said Black girls deserve to have a place in the game and be confident in who they are, which is something she struggled with growing up playing hockey. “Growing up, I felt like I had to remove a piece of my Blackness to fit in with hockey,” Saroya recalled. “But I think that my game has flourished when I’ve been unapologetic about who I am and embraced the ways I’m different.” And now, at age 24, Saroya is mentoring an entirely new generation of young Black female hockey players to be just that — unapologetic. Every girl receiving a scholarship through BGHC is fed into Saroya’s mentorship program, Saroya Strong, where her mission is to inspire and mentor BIPOC women in sports on how to overcome the types of struggles. Saroya has experienced throughout her lifetime. She wants to provide a positive, educational platform where women can learn from one another, grow together and thrive. She offers mentorship opportunities in person, virtually and over the phone. Saroya Strong aims to grow these girls’ confidence in themselves and in sports from an early age so they don’t struggle with their own self-image or feel as alone as Saroya did growing up. “At the end of the day, hockey doesn’t matter,” Saroya emphasized. “What matters is their mindset. I know how successful and confident I appear on the outside, but you never know what someone is going through on the inside. And that’s something I stress to my girls. I’m very open with them, and they're open with me, and our community grows from there.” “I always tell my girls to be 100 percent themselves, be honest and make sure that they are okay first,” Saroya said. “We talk a lot about what it means to be Black women, their mental health and wellness, and how it often gets put on the backburner. My advice to them is to be unapologetic about who they are and make space to give themselves grace.” A large part of instilling this confidence in these girls is ensuring they practice self-care. For Saroya, as a professional hockey player for the Toronto Six, the executive director for BGHC, podcast host and a full- time mentor, she rarely has free time to relax. But when she does, she enjoys dedicating time to her skincare routine, traveling and painting. “If I’m fully focused on my own self-care, I’m probably painting,” Saroya said. “It’s something I do part-time, but
SAROYA'S ARTWORK
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