from Adam Proteau of The Hockey News,

In only 13 months, the You Can Play project has gone from fledgling concept to unstoppable cultural force. Its raison d’etre – the eradication of homophobia in all athletic endeavors – and the passion behind it has been embraced so swiftly and by so many people, YCP has become the go-to organization for anyone who wants to be educated about gay and lesbian issues in sport.

But the place where it all began for YCP was the hockey world. In some ways, you can say it truly began in the dressing room of the Miami University men’s hockey team in late 2009, when then-team manager Brendan Burke told players he was gay and received overwhelming support for who he was and his goal. But after Burke’s tragic death in a car accident in February of 2010, his brother Patrick and father Brian have worked wonders to honor his legacy – first by founding YCP and then by relentlessly promoting its message – and they’ve succeeded in large part because dozens of hockey players and thousands of hockey fans believe in their cause.

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