Less than two weeks ago, a pair of New England high school hockey teams played a game with playoff implications. However, something greater was on the minds of the players that night at the Dover Ice Arena in Dover, N.H., as the two teams skated in support of Stick it to Stigma, a campaign started by an organization called Connor’s Climb to raise awareness around issues related to mental health.
The Berwick Academy Bulldogs have partnered with Connor’s Climb for the past three years, with both the boys’ and girls’ teams playing Stick it to Stigma games in 2018 and 2019. Due to scheduling conflicts, 2020 was the first year that the boys’ team did not play in a Stick it to Stigma game. However, that didn’t stop the team from supporting their female counterparts in an intense Saturday tilt. As junior Spencer Aubin said, “Right when we learned we didn’t have a game, we knew we wanted to help.”