Hawks Partner with SACE to Champion Community Safety

2026-01-30

The Riverhawks organization becomes the first local sports team to partner with SACE for comprehensive prevention education.

Recently, the Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton visited the Edmonton Collegiate Hawks program to hold educational sessions to better equip our players, coaches, and front office staff to be strong advocates and role models in our community. It’s a first-of-its-kind partnership between SACE and a local sports organization.

“One of the goals that we had at SACE was to try and change the perception of sport culture,” said Lesley Mutschke, Fund Development and Donor Relations Coordinator. “We thought these education sessions would be the perfect way to start to show not only the community-mindedness of the Riverhawks organization but also help highlight SACE and some of the work that we’re doing, especially in the area of prevention.”

The educational seminars taught Hawks players and staff about the importance of recognizing signs and knowing when and how to offer support in the ongoing battle against sexual assault cases.

“One thing I learned was how to support someone when they come to me with their story, or if they’re in a time of need,” says Collegiate Hawk, Jace Daku.

The Riverhawks organization is aware that sessions like these extend far beyond the field.

“The tools and resources that our staff and players learned here today are things that we can all take out into the community,” says Riverhawks Marketing and Game Day Director, Maddie Murdoch. “The Riverhawks really strive to be community-minded and to be positive role models, so if we’re better equipped through these educational sessions to go out and do that, whether it’s on the field, off the field, in the stands, it’s really important that we do so.”

SACE as an organization has faced recent budgetary challenges that threaten their ability to provide support to the Edmonton area. To learn more about their work, and donate to SACE, visit www.sace.ca.