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GFWC Harveys Lake hosts guest speaker

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Sunshine today in Wyoming Valley, but rain is on the way

<p>Growing up in northwestern British Columbia, Sahir Gill&#8217;s had a typical Canadian childhood even if his background is a little unique.</p><p>Gill, who is Sikh, grew up in a household where both of his parents moved to Canada from India. Neither knew anything about ice hockey when they arrived.</p><p>But that would change.</p><p>Wayne Gretzky was in the prime of his career at the time and the passion Canadians have for the game was contagious. Gill&#8217;s parents became fans, but later, when they had kids of their own, hockey became ingrained in the family.</p><p>&#8220;When it was time for my brother and I to start playing, my parents wanted to get us on skates as quickly as possible,&#8221; Gill said. &#8220;Back home, hockey was the thing to do when the ponds freeze over and my parents knew that.&#8221;</p><p>Hockey would continue to grow as a priority for the Gill family. Every Saturday night the family sat down to watch Hockey Night in Canada together, and Gill would often tag along with his older brother and watch him play hockey.</p><p>&#8220;In the major cities there&#8217;s a large Indian community. If you go to a game in Vancouver you&#8217;ll see quite a few Indian people,&#8221; Gill said. &#8220;They love hockey.&#8221;</p><p>And they love the opportunity that exists today to become more involved in the game.</p><p>Gill said the parents of many of today&#8217;s South Asian players didn&#8217;t understand what hockey was when they moved to Canada, but now things have progressed to the point where kids are teaching their parents about the sport.</p><p>Initiatives such as the NHL&#8217;s Hockey is for Everyone program have helped, Gill said, in addition to Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts in Punjabi.</p><p>The latter skyrocketed in popularity during last season&#8217;s Stanley Cup Finals when Harnarayan Singh and the rest of the Hockey Night in Canada Punjabi crew participated in Pittsburgh&#8217;s championship parade last June.</p><p>The weekly Punjabi broadcasts, Gill said, have broken down a language barrier that prevented some South Asians from learning the game of hockey.</p><p>&#8220;Maybe they didn&#8217;t know what the NHL was or who Sidney Crosby is, but now they do because the games are in their native language,&#8221; Gill said. &#8220;I talked to (Singh) on Twitter and it&#8217;s a cool thing they&#8217;re doing. The Punjabi broadcasts are allowing more people to understand the game and enjoy watching it.&#8221;</p><p>Gill hopes the trend grows to include other countries.</p><p>&#8220;If you can get other broadcasts in different languages, the sky is the limit,&#8221; Gill said. &#8220;With Hockey Night in Canada broadcast in Punjabi, it made a huge impact on the Indian community. There&#8217;s a market for that in other ethnicities.&#8221;</p><p>Now in his fourth pro season, Gill hopes he can do more to give more South Asian kids the opportunity to learn and play hockey. He realizes there aren&#8217;t many Punjabi-speaking players in the pro ranks and being a role model is something Gill is proud to take on.</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s not a lot of us in pro hockey, so if we&#8217;re someone that other kids can gravitate toward that&#8217;s great. Hockey truly is for everyone and there are no limits being put on anyone,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The NHL has done a great job making sure everyone feels comfortable chasing their dreams.&#8221;</p><p>While the Hockey is for Everyone program and games broadcast in Punjabi have helped break down barriers to expand interest in the sport, Gill said there&#8217;s a third element.</p><p>&#8220;Hockey players take the role of being good ambassadors of the game seriously,&#8221; Gill said. &#8220;It&#8217;s not an easy sport to get into, but the hockey community is one where if you need help, just reach out. That will increase the chance of growing hockey in other ethnicities.&#8221;</p><p><ins>For other Penguins stories, <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/category/sports" target="_blank">click here</a>.</ins></p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Sahir Gill is one of a few pro hockey players of South Asian descent. He hopes to use his position to expand hockey opportunities to all ethnicities. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_SahirGill.jpg</photo0><caption0>Sahir Gill is one of a few pro hockey players of South Asian descent. He hopes to use his position to expand hockey opportunities to all ethnicities. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams file photo | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Pens forward hopes to be a role model for South Asian youngsters</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TomVenesky</p></shirttailMeta></div>

WBS Penguins forward Sahir Gill believes hockey growing among South Asians