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‘It’s really humbling’: How Edmonton’s Sonny Sekhon became a Willie O’Ree Award finalist
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Photo credit: Dale MacMillan / Brick Hockey
Alicia LaBine
May 20, 2026, 20:00 EDTUpdated: May 20, 2026, 16:31 EDT
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For more than two decades, Sonny Sekhon has been a part of making the hockey community in Edmonton a more inclusive space. Now, he is on the verge of making history as the city’s first-ever winner of the Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award.
“Arjun Atwal, who is unbelievable and one of my closest friends, decided he wanted to throw my name in the hat,” said Sekhon, adding it was a surprise to be nominated for such a prestigious award. “I got an email, which I glanced over at first. A couple of days later, I realized I was in consideration, then the next month I had a call from the NHL’s people telling me I was a finalist.”
Sekhon grew up playing hockey in Edmonton, and it has been an integral part of his life ever since he can remember. When he was 16, he became a volunteer for the Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament – an annual tournament that occurs at West Edmonton Mall – and he has been there ever since.
Now, he serves as an executive member of the board at the tournament, and he is looking forward to cementing his legacy and impact on these up-and-coming hockey stars by promoting leadership and kindness amongst young hockey players.
He and other members of the committee have begun the process of a new program for the tournament called “B.R.I.C.K.” meaning “Building Respect, Inclusivity, Character, and Kindness.” Sekhon says it is important to him that the tournament uses the platform they have developed to engulf the sport in a better environment.
Nearly 500 NHL players come through the Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament, and it has seven first overall draft picks in its alumni: Steven Stamkos, Erik Johnson, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Auston Matthews, Jack Hughes, Connor Bedard, and Macklin Celebrini.
“The B.R.I.C.K. leadership program will be a professionally delivered curriculum to all of our players in the tournament,” said Sekhon. “We want to contribute to make things better. Even if these kids don’t stay in hockey, these are still important skills to learn about, and will inspire them to want to be leaders.”
Eighty-two per cent of their players, Sekhon said, have gone on to major junior or junior hockey careers.
Sonny Sekhon holding a Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament disk.Delaney Miles
Sonny Sekhon holding a Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament disk.
This tournament is not the only thing that Sekhon has been a part of to create a more inclusive community in hockey. In 2018, he founded a three-on-three tournament for Indian ball hockey players. Later, he and Atwal, who was one of the finalists for the award last year, turned the tournament into a full league that provides these players with a platform to showcase their talents, called the “Punjabi Elite League” (AZPEL).
According to Sekhon, the Team India program has been “dormant” for nearly a decade, in large part due to a lack of representation of professional ball hockey players. This year marks a year of resurgence for this team, and Sekhon’s AZPEL has four representatives who will be making the squad: Arjun Atwal, Arjun Dhaliwal, Jessy Virdee, and Sunny Brar – brother of OilersTV host, Tony.
Along with this, Sekhon will also be the vice president of the women’s team, with his colleague and friend, Amrit Ghuman, who will be the president. He has become a driving force for all underrepresented communities in both ball and ice hockey.
“I think as we get into the next generation, we are going to continue to show it… have more kids events, have more women’s events,” Sekhon says. “Our league is going to do that. We are going to continue to host free kids’ games and free women’s games. We are going to have a moms versus kids game this season, which is going to be awesome.”
He says he is most proud of how he has been able to provide kids of all backgrounds with greater opportunities. One specific example being Maksim Manku, who went from being a kid who could skate but was nervous about how he would handle diving into a brand new sport, to being the Edmonton Oilers’ Rona Skater, skating alongside players like Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Evan Bouchard.
“Last year, we had our first kids showcase, and there were 18 kids. This year, we almost tripled that. Arjun has almost 400 kids in the AZ1 network,” Sekhon says about the growth of his and Atwal’s programs. “I can name, on two hands, every BIPOC kid I ever played with in ten years of high-level hockey.”
Growing the game for the future generation of hockey players is what he is most passionate about. He says, “I just wanted to provide kids with opportunities I didn’t have. Now my son and nephews and nieces have these opportunities.”
This is not Sekhon’s first time being acknowledged as a hero in our community. In 2023, he was nominated as one of Edify’s “40 Under 40” for his philanthropic work with Free Play for Kids, which is a program that provides free sports programming as afterschool childcare to children that come from difficult financial situations.
Sekhon says a lot of his passion comes from being an Edmontonian. He loves the city and wants to see it be “put on the map” for being as amazing as he feels it is.
“Edmonton has always had this terrible reputation of being cold, and all we have is a mall, and the Oilers. It’s so far from the truth,” he says. “The city we have is unreal. If anything, we are guilty about being too modest about how awesome our sports innovations are.”
For Sekhon, this experience has been overwhelming in a positive way. He says he is honoured to be receiving recognition for what he has been doing, but he recognizes that it is bigger than himself. He thanks Atwal, Ghuman, Dampy Brar, and others for joining him in cultivating a new and accepting path for hockey players of all ages, ethnic backgrounds, genders, and sexualities. 
“Being nominated for this award means everything to me. It’s really humbling to be recognized for the work I have done with so many amazing people. I love Edmonton. I take every opportunity I can to highlight it and improve it.”
You can vote for Sekhon at NHL.com/OReeAward.
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