Philadelphia Flyers’ forward James van Riemsdyk will be taking part in You Can Play’s Virtual Pride Day tomorrow along with a few other noteworthy athletes. JVR and the panel of LGBTQ+ athletes will get together to talk about their roles on and off their respective playing fields. The Flyer and company can be seen at 1pm on You Can Play’s Twitter or YouTube channel. Via the team:
‘In honor of Pride Month, the Philadelphia Flyers’ James van Riemsdyk will take part in You Can Play’s Virtual Pride Day on Saturday, June 27. The Virtual Pride event will bring together high-profile LGBTQ+ athletes and allies to share stories surrounding their role in their communities and sports.
The hockey club’s You Can Play ambassador will join Sharon Fichman (Canadian tennis star), Dylan Moscovitch (Olympic Gold Medalist Figure Skater) and Jeremy Sonkin (LGBTQ+ professional tennis player) to discuss intersectionality, the LGBTQ+ community’s role in sports, importance of allies and more.’
JVR, as well as former Flyer Scott Hartnell, got involved in the initiative after Brendan Burke (former Toronto Maple Leafs’ general manager Brian Burke’s son) reached out to them several years ago while playing together in Philly. The power forward turned his good intentions into action by being named the Maple Leafs’ You Can Play ambassador back in February of 2017.
If you can play, you can play. #HockeyIsForEveryone pic.twitter.com/1H8SSW2JLo
— x-Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) June 26, 2020
As mentioned above, JVR will be joined by a few other notable athletes for tomorrow. Sharon Fichman is currently the 48th-ranked women’s doubles’ tennis player in the world with three doubles titles to her name, Dylan Moscovitch is a retired pair skater who competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics, and Jeremy Sonkin is a pro tennis player who wrote about having to deal with racism and homophobia in his sport for SB Nation not too long ago.
If you want to learn more about You Can Play be sure to check out their website. Hockey is for everyone.
