Connecting Cultures Through Sport

Parento joined seven people from the non-profit organization Sticks Together, founded by her former St. Lawrence University teammate and roommate, Sarah Thompson. They hosted on-ice workouts with local athletes and traveled to various schools throughout Kenya to play roller hockey — the off-ice variant of their on-ice specialty.

“The organization’s mission is really centered around using hockey to create opportunities for young people around the world to learn, play, connect, and experience something that might otherwise feel very far away from them,” Parento explained, adding that Sticks Together has also worked in Argentina, the Philippines, and South Africa. “The destinations may change, but the heart of the organization stays the same — using hockey as a common language.”

With only one hockey rink in Eastern and Central Africa —in the Panari Hotel in Nairobi — Sticks Together played a key role in supplementing cost barriers and transportation hurdles that prevent many from ever taking up the sport.

Though many of the athletes had never stepped onto a clean sheet of ice before, Parento said it was exciting to see how their previous experiences on roller skates helped ease the learning curve. She said she was also moved by the athletes’ thirst for feedback and willingness to learn.

“As a coach, that was incredible to witness,” Parento said. “It gave me a completely different perspective on hockey development and made me appreciate how much talent and potential exists when athletes are simply given an opportunity.”

Off the ice, Parento and her group visited several local schools where they played roller hockey with students and took time to talk about shared experiences.

“Those visits were particularly meaningful to me because they were all girls’ secondary boarding schools, which is the age group I now teach and coach,” Parento said. “I felt like I had an immediate point of connection with these young women. I was also once a girl in a boarding-school environment and so I found myself constantly comparing our experiences.”

Parento said preparations for their trip began well before summer, with fundraising efforts kicking off as early as January. She credited the KUA community for donating more than $700 for the trip, as well as a large bin of hockey equipment and uniforms greatly appreciated by the Kenyan athletes.

Now in her first full season at the helm for the Wildcats, Parento said she’s eager to share her experiences with her team and remind them that hockey is about being a part of something bigger than yourself.

“I want to create more opportunities for our girls to connect with the local community, learn from people outside of our school, and understand that they have the ability to use the sport they love to positively impact other people,” Parento said. “Hockey can connect people across cultures and communities. I never want to lose sight of how powerful this sport can be when we use it to connect rather than simply compete.”