Multimedia sports journalist Jashvina Shah considers the hockey rink a home away from home. It was a place where she felt a part of a community. However, the hockey world didn’t feel the same about her. She witnessed the racism and sexism and saw players accused of terrible acts continue to get second chances. She learned that sense of community was only for a select group of fans.
Speaking from her own experience as an outsider, Shah is ready for hockey to change it’s culture.
In her new book “Game Misconduct”, the journalist opens up about the toxic culture surrounding hockey. From fans to players to executives, it’s time for all of us to be uncomfortable for real change to happen. The book will be available on October 12, 2021, but it is available now for preorder.
I had a chance to talk to her about the new book and her hopes for the sport she loves.
Where did your love of sports develop?
My parents were always into sports. When they moved to the U.S. they lived in Cleveland so they became hardcore football fans. That’s how they raised us. When I moved from Boston to New Jersey, I missed my home so I expressed that by forming a deeper attachment to the Red Sox and Patriots.
Your new book “Game Misconduct” explores hockey’s toxic culture. What motivated you to write it?
There was a specific incident and I kind of just flippantly tweeted that someone should pay me to write a book about this because I was very fed up with how the same things just keep happening. It’s cool to do Twitter threads and stuff, but there are so many complex issues that require real space to go through them.
Was there a singular incident or a pattern of behavior that you noticed?
I think there were incidents that happened where finally they just woke you up. For me a big one was that, it was before my last year covering Princeton and on Twitter, everyone was having a discussion about writing for free and I said don’t do it because it doesn’t work the same if you aren’t a cis straight white male, and one of the reporters who covered Princeton I thought I was friends with said it worked for him and I pointed out that it doesn’t work for marginalized folks and somehow he ended up saying I accused him of being racist, even though I never said that, and this ended up with me, a few days later, absolutely ranting to a Princeton player during development camp for like 10 minutes about racism. That was the turning point!
What do you say to people who tell you to “stick to sports”?
No one does anymore! Or if they do I don’t see them. At this point I just ignore them.
How can hockey fans help shift the sport’s culture?
There are a lot of great people doing community organizing, so that’s a great place to start. It’s also important to hold your teams and fans you see in check – if you hear or see them doing something wrong, you have to be an ally.
What is your advice to women who want to work in sports?
Do what makes you happy and what makes you feel safe. When I covered Princeton I was 22 and I was very conscious of how I dressed because I didn’t want to be interpreted in a negative light. At some point I just realized you know, people are going to judge me anyway because I’m a woman. Nothing I wear will ever be right. So, I just started wearing what I wanted (within professional reason!). Now I take a lot of pride in my hockey wardrobe.
The best thing in sports, and in life, is to surround yourself with excellent people. Life is hard and being a woman in sports is hard so you have to find a support group of people with similar experiences to you. It’s a lifesaver.
[…] As some of you may already know, Jashvina Shah and Evan Moore have a book about hockey culture coming out in the fall. It’s called Game Misconduct, and I’d highly recommend pre-ordering it if you plan on reading it, because that’s a great way to support authors. Jashvina recently appeared on a podcast to talk about the book and about hockey culture, and she was also interviewed by Sports As Told By A Girl. […]