Mayers named to new NHL Player Inclusion Coalition

Jamal Mayers, Blues alum and current Community and Youth Hockey Advisor, was announced as a member of the National Hockey League and NHL Players' Association's new Player Inclusion Coalition on Tuesday.

The coalition is made up of current and former NHL players and women's professional hockey players who work to advance equality and inclusion in hockey, with a range of perspectives across players of color, LGBTQ+ players and allies. As part of the launch, the NHLPA and NHL have earmarked more than $1 million to support the coalition's programs through contributions to grassroots organizations, player-perspective storytelling and other special projects.

Mayers is one of 20 members named to the coalition, along with former Blues Ryan Reaves and Kevin Shattenkirk. The group is being co-chaired by NHL alumni Anson Carter and PK Subban.

While the coalition is new, Mayers has been involved with the League's diversity efforts since 2020, when a committee was created to help inform and develop recommendations to the NHL's Executive Inclusion Council on how to improve experiences for diverse players in elite hockey.

"I had to endure certain things growing up," Mayers said. "My fear is that you might lose kids between the ages of 8-15 because they had to put up with some of the things that I had to put up with."

This has driven Mayers in his work as the Blues' Community and Youth Hockey Advisor and especially in helping create the North City Blues. The youth hockey program, which began in 2021, provides free after-school hockey practices to children enrolled at KIPP Schools or Friendly Temple.

During the 2022-23 season, each Player Inclusion Coalition member selected an organization to receive a $5,000 grant from the group's action fund. Mayers selected the North City Blues. His hope is the program can continue to grow and provide scholarship opportunities for kids to keep playing.

Mayers credited Blues owner Tom Stillman, President/CEO Chris Zimmerman and the community relations department, led by Randy Girsch, for understanding the importance of giving back to the St. Louis community and making it a priority for the organization.

Helping more leadership and executives across hockey understand the importance of diversity has been something Mayers and the NHL committee have focused on over the past few years, along with educating and empowering current players to help them become advocates.

With the creation of the coalition, along with continued growth and development of programs like North City Blues, Mayers hopes to see increased numbers of diverse kids playing the game, employed in the NHL and in positions of power.

"Diverse thoughts and diverse ideas come up with diverse solutions," he said. "Having a diverse group is really going to make the game better."

To learn more about the Player Inclusion Coalition and their work, visit NHL.com/Player-Inclusion-Coalition.