Sass, a Professional Women's Hockey Players Association goalie, and her teammates found themselves trying to get dressed in a locker room that was spilling over to the toilet area. They rolled their eyes and made jokes about it, but the frustrations were mounting.
"Nobody knows about this," Sass recalled of what put her into action. "Sitting there in the locker room I was thinking of what is a more productive way to raise awareness of these things because if no one knows about these struggles, no one can really help us."
The idea of the advocacy art show "Behind the Front" was then born.
A full-time architectural designer by trade at HLW NYC, Sass used her art background to create a series of paintings and installations that depict the inequities of women's professional hockey.
"Exposing both positive and negative experiences I think is very important to make strides forward," Sass said.
The paintings highlight various events in Sass' pro career. One painting named "Profundme Mask," features her side profile with her goalie mask that is blue and gray, the colors of her old team and her jersey is red, the colors of her new team.
Sass writes on her website
that the piece represents the lengths she had to go to replace her old goalie mask after signing with a new team. The subdued colors evoke the shame she felt that the fans had to help her get new equipment instead of the league.
