Pursuit / spring 2011 - Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education ...

TiME OUT
ChAmpion oF ChAnge
by Valerie Iancovich
Abby Hoffman has never been afraid
to question the status quo. She
first showed her tenacious spirit
when she was just nine years old and cut
her hair short, passing herself off as a boy
so that she could play hockey at Varsity
Arena. Just before the playoffs, her secret
was revealed. But she earned the right to
finish the season – and her story made
national headlines.
Though Hoffman (UC 6T8, MA
6T9) hung up her skates soon after, her
athleticism flourished on the track.
Already an accomplished middle-distance
runner when she arrived at U of T, she
discovered that breaking into this boys’
club would take more than a change in
hair style. Hart House – home to the
city’s only indoor track – was a men-only
facility, leaving Hoffman with no place
to train. “I actually got tossed out several
times,” Hoffman recalls. “I was literally
thrown out of the building.”
But Hoffman didn’t let this setback
impact her ambition; she trained
elsewhere and qualified for the 1976
Olympics. At the opening ceremonies
for the Montreal Games, her roles as
athlete and activist came together when
she became the first woman to carry the
Canadian flag at a Summer Games.
When her competitive career ended,
Hoffman went on to serve as the country’s
first woman director general of Sport
Canada and the first director general
of Health Canada’s Women’s Health
Bureau. She was named an Officer of the
Order of Canada in 1982 for her tireless
commitment to sport and activism, and
has been inducted into both the U of T
and Canadian Sports Halls of Fame.
In 1972, Hart House finally opened
to women. In 1979, the House installed a
plaque to acknowledge the efforts of this
trailblazer and her contributions to the
advancement of women at U of T. It reads:
“Abby Hoffman: Only she who attempts
the absurd will achieve the impossible.”
44 Pursuit / spring 2011
Photo: cP images