Allan Chan is hopeful kids shut out of amateur sports will have an easier time getting on the ice if Manitoba threads the needle on proposed changes to make play more inclusive.

New Democrats introduced the Promoting Inclusion in Amateur Sport Act last week but made the bill available for the first time Monday.

“There would be a lot of groundwork needed to get this moving, and then you’ll see the fruits of the labour, like in five to 10 years time,” said Chan, who is with Our Game Hockey. “But, this is something … I never thought I would see, and to see this new bill coming and being introduced is exciting.”

The non-profit Our Game Hockey has partnered with the Winnipeg Jets to make hockey more accessible to youths, including newcomers, who face barriers.

The bill would require Sport Manitoba to create an inclusion policy designed to identify gaps in participation by some demographics and identify ways to change that.

Sport Manitoba would be required to put together training sessions to help organizations enhance inclusion efforts. Board members and staff would have to take those courses if the bill becomes law.

Organizations would also have to track who is participating in what sport based on guidelines developed by Sport Manitoba. That demographic data would have to be shared with Sport Minister Nellie Kennedy’s office annually in a report, along with programs or “changes in rules or policies” necessary to boost participation, the bill states.

The minister suggested the information-gathering component could be folded into existing registration forms families fill out when signing their children up for sports.

“It’s as easy as providing a questionnaire along with that registration to be able to collect some of this data,” Kennedy said. “We don’t anticipate that it’s going to be so onerous that [sports organizations are] going to need more human resource hours.”

She suggested the inclusion training would complement anti-racism and other course requirements already in place.

Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan said he is all for greater inclusion in kids’ sports.

“But, who is asking for this bill? Are the sports organizations asking for it? Are the athletes asking for it? Are the parents asking for it? And who is going to pay for this? So, now you’re putting another onus of responsibility and duty on sports organizations,” Khan said.

“What’s the key performance indicator on this? How are you going to measure success or failure … how are they going to bring more kids to the sport?”

Chan, who is registrar for the River East Minor Hockey Association, suggested some of the data the government is after is already being collected by sports organizations. He said the association uses a Hockey Canada registry system that asks for player information such as ethnicity and what neighbourhood they are from.

“That kind of data is available, and I think government is going to have to work with these different sports organizations to see who’s registering and what’s being underrepresented,” Chan said.

He said he faced struggles getting into hockey as a first-generation Chinese-Canadian raised in the Chinatown and Central Park areas of Winnipeg’s core.

His parents came to Canada from Hong Kong in the 1970s and worked long hours. Money was tight, and rec leagues weren’t accessible.

It wasn’t until he got a job and a car in his late teens that he was able to start playing in rec leagues and then beer leagues.

About 15 years ago, when he was in his early 30s, Chan started an all-Asian team called the Winnipeg Emperors. He has since helped field teams of Asian Winnipeggers at the annual Asian Hockey Championships outside Manitoba. His son just wrapped his season playing U18 AA.

Chan was tapped for a position four years ago on a board that advised the Jets.

It was through that work that the board identified a group of kids who weren’t planning on getting into sport. So, Chan and others started a program that turned into Our Game Hockey.

They’ve been working on a collaboration with the Jets to get a group of kids in the Winnipeg School Division into hockey by covering costs and providing other supports.

“We serve the Asian, Filipino, the South Asian, Ukrainian, Black communities, and we give them an opportunity to play the sport,” Chan said.

“We actively seek out within the Winnipeg School Division … these type of kids that don’t have the opportunity and would love to learn how to play.”

He said he thinks it could take time for the bigger picture to emerge if the NDP bill passes.

“Coming from a background as being an inner-city kid and not really ever … having these opportunities, and now seeing the government setting this in motion, just gives me hope,” he said.