Saroya Tinker on the future of Black representation in PWHL

The PWHL finally closed the book on its inaugural season with its second annual draft: 42 players were drafted Monday night inside the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in downtown St. Paul.

There were 167 eligible players, including Wisconsin’s Chayla Edwards, the only Black player who declared for the seven-round draft. However, Edwards did not get selected.

“I definitely think she has an opportunity to be a free agent and get in this league,” said PWHL Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiative & Community Engagement Manager Saroya Tinker.  She interviewed draftees on camera after they were selected during the three-hour televised draft on YouTube.

Tinker afterward spoke to the MSR.

“There is no doubt that she can play at this level,” said Tinker of Edwards, an all-WCHA performer and 2023 NCAA champion. “She played at a top school, was a top defenseman, and I mean, there is no doubt that she can play at this level.

“I think she just has to go prove herself at camp just as a lot of us Black players had to do. I think she deserves to be here,” said Tinker.

Tinker retired from pro hockey in November 2023—she played three years of pro hockey, including a member of the 2023 Isobel Cup champion Toronto Six in the PHL’s final season. The Oshawa, Ontario, native played college hockey at Yale (2016-2020).

The retired defenseman went undrafted in the 2023 PWHL draft but was invited by Ottawa to come to training camp but retired the day before it started and became a hockey analyst for CBC, TSN, and Sportsnet.

This season, the PWHL had four Black players in the predominantly white League, including Sophie Jaques and Nikki Nightingale, both members of the PWHL Walter Cup Champions Minnesota: Mikyla Grant-Mantis and Sarah Nurse. Nurse made the second-team All-Star team, and Jaques made the All-Rookie team.

They also are only part of a short list of Black pro female players.

“I think Black people have been involved in hockey from the very start,” Tinker pointed out. “So much of hockey has revolved around Black individuals developing the game, and we’re unfortunately forgotten, not respected in the space, and not necessarily included.”

Melvin Carter, Saint Paul’s first Black mayor, was at Monday’s draft.

“There was a little hockey game, and the guy was showing me how to do it,” said Mayor Carter after he was on stage to announce Minnesota’s second draft pick. “He was surprised to see that I know a little bit about the sport.

“I told him I grew up in Minnesota. I know how to play,” added Carter. “We are the State of Hockey. It’s amazing to be able to hold [the draft] this year.”

“I think it’s just amazing to see other Black individuals in and around the arena and doing what we do and just loving the sport that we love,” stressed Tinker.

In addition to her broadcasting duties and PWHL work, Tinker is executive director of the Canadian chapter of the Black Girl Hockey Club, which she helped found in 2022.  As a volunteer, she helped raise $32,000 to get the chapter off the ground and fund scholarships for Black and BIPOC females. She also started a mentorship program, Saroya Strong, in 2020.

“For me to be in an executive position now … and to watch players like Sophie and Nikki and Makayla and Sarah Nurse come through the system,” said Tinker.  “I think that’s really what we want to see.

“I chose to be where I am because I think there’s time for us to have a seat at the table, and it was my time to take that seat.”

Since retiring, Tinker says she’s still adjusting: “Everything has happened so fast this season that I honestly haven’t really had a chance to sit down and kind of have figure out what I feel about not playing. There were definitely moments when I was calling color commentary this year, and I wished I was standing out there on the blue line.

“But at the same time, the transition has been super smooth. I do think this is my first retired summer, my first summer I’m not obligated to train. So, to be honest, I’m wondering what the heck I’m going to do,” said Tinker smiling.

 Finally, “I think moving forward as a league, it’s going to be imperative to have that representation” of having more Black players, concluded Tinker. “But implement it right from the get-go, and that comes from having seats at the table.”