Re-Tribe

28/01/2026

A lot of people know what they need or want to change. That part usually isn’t the problem.

The harder part is committing to the work of changing it. Not just understanding it, not just talking about it, but actually showing up and doing something different, consistently, over time.

It’s easy to gather insight. Podcasts, books, conversations, moments of clarity. None of that changes much on its own. Change usually asks for commitment, effort, and a willingness to stay connected when it would be easier to drift off or go quiet again.

What we keep seeing is that real change doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens when people decide to stay engaged, be accountable to others, and keep going long enough for something new to take hold.

There’s nothing flashy about that. It’s just commitment, repeated.

Not softer. Stronger.

23/01/2026

This week, the International Ice Hockey Federation is marking IIHF Integrity Week, and it’s worth acknowledging why this matters.

Integrity isn’t just about rules and governance. It’s about how people treat one another. How decisions are made under pressure. How responsibility, compassion and accountability show up across the game, on and off the ice.

At ReTribe, our work has been deeply inspired by this kind of leadership. Creating spaces where people can live by shared values. Integrity. Compassion. Accountability. Supporting players, coaches, officials, parents and everyone who shapes the hockey ecosystem to make choices that don’t cause harm, and that help the game thrive.

Culture shifts don’t happen overnight. They happen when organisations and communities commit to the same principles, consistently.

We applaud the IIHF for leading this conversation and shining a light on something the game needs. We’ll keep doing our part to support a hockey culture where the greatest game on the planet can also be the most prosperous and healthy for all involved.

Not softer. Stronger.

21/01/2026

Watching Nottingham Panthers lift the Continental Cup last weekend is a reminder that performance is often shaped by things we don’t always see.

Over the summer, we crossed paths briefly with their head coach, Danny Stewart. It was only a five-minute conversation, but something stood out. Anyone who remembers Danny as a player will remember the intensity. Hard-nosed. High energy. Right in your face.

What came across in that brief moment was something different. Calm. Grounded. Solid. The competitiveness was still there, but it felt settled rather than charged.

We’re not drawing straight lines or making assumptions. But it’s a useful reminder that leadership evolves. And when leaders carry themselves with clarity and steadiness, it often creates the conditions for teams to thrive.
Energy matters. How it’s carried matters even more.

Not softer. Stronger.






LearningWednesday

20/01/2026

19/01/2026

The Turning Point

River Rymsha’s turning point didn’t come quietly.

While he was still playing, coaches and teammates began to notice that something wasn’t right. The pressure and coping behaviours were becoming harder to hide. What had been carried privately was starting to show.

This moment could have led to denial or pushing through. Instead, River chose action.

He took a leave of absence, listened to what was being reflected back to him, and made the decision to step away and get support. He got on a plane to meet Nick Rothwell and connect with ReTribe, recognising that continuing as he was wasn’t sustainable.

This matters because it challenges a deep belief in hockey culture. That being called out is failure. That stepping away is weakness. In reality, this was River choosing responsibility and honesty.

The turning point wasn’t being found out.

It was choosing not to deny it anymore.

Part 3 next Monday.











England Ice Hockey Elite Ice Hockey League The Cardiff Devils

16/01/2026

This week has been a reminder of something we see again and again in hockey.

Behind the performances, the roles, and the expectations, people are carrying real lives. Real pressure. Real grief. Real responsibility. And most of it never makes it onto the ice.

This isn’t work about changing the game. It’s about giving people the tools to make better decisions in their lives. Decisions that don’t harm themselves or others. Decisions that help the game be better because the people inside it are better supported.

At ReTribe, our mission is to create spaces where people don’t have to carry it alone. Where strength includes honesty. Where accountability includes care. Where connection doesn’t disappear when things get heavy.

Not softer. Stronger.

12/01/2026

What We Carry While We’re Still Playing

One of the most misunderstood parts of hockey culture is where the real struggles often live. Not after the game ends, but while players are still playing.

River Rymsha's challenges didn’t start when hockey stopped. They were already there. Gambling. Drugs. Alcohol. Ways of coping that sat alongside performance, training, and competing. On the surface, everything looked fine. Underneath, things were quietly unravelling.

And like so many players, River kept it to himself.

Because that’s the culture many grow up in. Suck it up. Deal with it on your own. Don’t let anyone see you struggling. Don’t become a problem. Don’t risk being cut.

The behaviours weren’t about a lack of discipline or care. They were about survival in an environment where vulnerability is often mistaken for weakness, and asking for help can feel like a threat to your career.

This part of River’s story matters because it challenges a dangerous assumption. That if someone is still playing, they must be coping. That silence means strength. That resilience means handling everything alone.

It doesn’t.

This is where ReTribe meets people. Not at rock bottom. Not when everything has fallen apart. But in the middle of it. While they’re still showing up, still performing, still carrying more than anyone realises.

09/01/2026

Back in August, ReTribe spent time with a group of referees.

What stood out immediately was just how human their experience of the game is. The pressure they carry. The scrutiny. The split-second decisions. The reality that not everything is black and white when you’re standing in the middle of the ice.

Like players and coaches, referees sit in a difficult position. They absorb emotion from every direction and are expected to stay grounded, fair and accountable at all times. Yet their need for support is rarely talked about.

This work reinforced something important for us. Referees are not separate from the game’s wellbeing. They are part of it. When officials feel supported, understood and connected, the entire hockey ecosystem benefits.

At ReTribe, our mission is to support everyone who shapes the game. Players, coaches, officials and parents. When we recognise the humanity across the system, culture begins to shift.

Not softer. Stronger.

IHUK Referee Section Michael Hicks Colin Davidson Hollie Neenan Michael Evans Assoc CIPD

07/01/2026

Let ’em play.

This is a ReTribe reminder.

Over the last few years, sport and hockey especially has become increasingly focused on science, individual development, skills sessions, neurology, edge work, and optimisation. None of that is wrong. In fact, much of it has value. But in our rush to get better, faster, stronger, we may have quietly forgotten something far more fundamental.

Play.

At ReTribe, we’re not trying to rewind the clock or romanticise the past. We’re simply interested in remembering what actually made most of us fall in love with the game in the first place. It wasn’t a perfectly designed pathway or a carefully managed programme. It was fun. It was friendships. It was connection.

Whether it was on the ice with a puck or on the street with a ball, we played because it felt good. We learned because we were together. We argued, laughed, messed around, figured things out, and kept coming back because it gave us something beyond performance. It gave us belonging.

Today’s game understandably talks a lot about individual pathways and elite outcomes. But the reality is that only a very small percentage will ever play professionally. That doesn’t make the game less valuable. It makes it more important that we use it well.

For most people, hockey is not a route to the NHL. It’s an avenue for community, friendships, accountability, joy, and shared experience. It’s a place to learn how to be part of something, not just how to stand out.

This isn’t about whether teams of yesterday were better than teams of today.

That debate misses the point. What matters is everyone’s experience, especially the experience of the many, not the few.

So to parents, coaches, and players, this is the invitation.

LET THEM PLAY. Let them enjoy the game. Let hockey be a place where people want to stay, not something they feel managed by.

That’s what ReTribe is about. Remembering what sport is really for, and protecting the parts of it that make us human.

England Ice Hockey
International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF)
USA Hockey
Elite Ice Hockey League

05/01/2026

ReTribe | Our Commitment to you in 2026

As we move into 2026, we want to be clear about what we’re standing for and what we’re committing to.

We are committing to keep showing up across the hockey ecosystem. With federations. With leagues. With teams. With players. With coaches, officials and parents. With everyone who shapes the experience of the game. Not just when it’s visible, but when it’s needed. We will keep listening, keep learning, and keep building relationships that last.

We are committing to keep telling the stories that need telling. The honest ones. The uncomfortable ones. The human ones. Not to provoke, but to reflect what people are actually living and to gently shift the ideas that shape the culture of hockey.

We are committing to continue supporting people through transition. When playing ends. When roles change. When identity shifts. When the noise stops. We will keep creating ways for people to stay connected, stay accountable, and stay grounded beyond their time on the ice.

We are committing to adding resources that genuinely help. Independent spaces within the hockey ecosystem where people can go without fear of reprisal. Spaces built on trust, confidentiality and lived experience, not optics.
We are committing to helping hockey become a place where people can thrive. Where performance and wellbeing are not in conflict. Where strength does not require silence. Where no harm is created in the pursuit of success.

Every single day, people from across the game reach out to ReTribe. Players. Coaches. Officials. Parents. They tell us they feel safe here. They tell us this space feels different. They tell us they’ve never had anywhere like this before. We don’t take that lightly. We treat it as a responsibility.

ReTribe is bigger than one person. Bigger than one team. Bigger than one league or one federation. ReTribe is a movement of community, connection and accountability. And movements only work because people choose to be part of them.

Thank you to everyone who helped make 2025 what it was. You shaped this more than you know.

As we step into 2026, we’d love you with us. If this resonates, if you feel drawn to be part of ReTribe in any way, reach out. We’ll meet you where you are.

This is our commitment.

29/12/2025

Les Millie and Nick Rothwell back in 1992. Teammates of the Sheffield Steelers for a short time. Not friends. That context matters.

Hockey creates bonds that don’t rely on time served or closeness. The connection runs deeper than that. Long after the game stops, that bond is still there, whether it’s acknowledged or not.

ReTribe isn’t a single pathway or a one-size-fits-all solution. It’s a movement built on peer-to-peer support and accountability, alongside workshops, conversations and content. Some people lean all the way in. Some stay quiet. Some sit on the edge for a long time. All of it counts. People are met exactly where they are.

Les’s words below show that clearly. They also highlight how vital the people around players are, especially partners and families who often carry far more than they let on.

Thank you, Les, for sharing this with such honesty.

“I know he’ll call me out and honestly I deserve it, like the rest of the guys will. I am part of ReTribe and a proud, but somewhat silent, member. I have attended meetings. Not my bag, as I’m still closed off, but I do speak to Nick and he checks in with me regardless.

Like a lot of ex-players, I have suffered from CTE, but we’re sometimes unaware of the impact that has on the people closest to us. My wife, if you met her, is the shyest flower in the garden, yet when it comes to my health and welfare she’s Bob Probert reincarnated.

Without her, I could be in serious trouble, not just mentally but physically. She pushed me to face my depression after retiring from hockey and encouraged me to see my GP, where I was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

I love the bones off my wife, but I’ll be the first to admit it doesn’t fully replace the void of the room. Whether you’re fully involved or on the periphery, the group always has your back. Fellas, if you need a crutch, use it. It’s there for your benefit.”

This is the brotherhood of hockey. Not defined by stats or wins and losses, but by shared experience. When the playing days end, the need for connection doesn’t.

That’s why ReTribe exists.

If you’re a current or former player and any part of this resonates, reach out.

We’ll meet you where you are.

https://retribecollective.com/

England Ice Hockey Elite Ice Hockey League

24/12/2025

As the holiday season rolls in, we’re feeling happy, grateful and quietly excited for what’s ahead.

Thank you for being part of the ReTribe community. The conversations, the honesty and the connection this year have meant a lot to us.

We hope you enjoy some well earned rest, a few good laughs and a chance to reset.

Wishing you a warm holiday season and looking forward to the new year together.