Dr. Johanna Carlo is one of the many amazing women in the OHA!
Cambridge, ON – The phrase unsung hero is thrown around a lot these days to highlight professions and people that fly under the radar and deserve more recognition for making a difference in the lives of others through their work and their actions. When it comes to capturing the essence of hockey trainers, this is an apt description, and no hyperbole. These volunteers come from all walks of life: from athletic therapists, chiropractors, physios and nurses to police officers, firefighters, and many more professions.
Trainers for the 124 teams across the OHA play a critical role; they are responsible for the safety of players and all the team’s personnel on and off the ice. As this piece written by Tony Caravaggio for the OMHA a few years ago highlights, there are six attributes every great trainer possesses: risk management, hockey knowledge, preparation, volunteer mindset, a desire to help, but not coach, and communication skills.
Dr. Johanna Carlo possesses all these essential skills and many more. The OHA recently chatted with the tireless volunteer who chairs the OHA Trainers committee and serves as the trainer for the OJHL’s Lindsay Muskies—and by day operates a chiropractic clinic in the Beaches neighborhood of Toronto—to learn more about her hockey journey and the valuable role of the men and women who volunteer their time to make sure players, coaches, and officials are safe throughout our league.
“As the OHA marks International Women’s Day this weekend, we celebrate all of the leaders throughout our league,” says Chris McCleary, General Manager of the OHA. “This year’s theme, Accelerate Action, aligns with the ongoing progress and opportunities for women in hockey.”
Dr. Carlo arrived in Canada from the U.S. in the 1990s with a limited knowledge of our national sport. “Most of my work in sports before moving here was with basketball and baseball teams,” she recalls. “In my neighborhood, I discovered the Scarborough Wexford Raiders. I was working as a chiropractor and ended up getting introduced to the team’s coach through a mutual friend. After a few conversations, the team thought I would be a good fit to help as their doctor..”
After watching games from the stands for a while, Johanna realized that the real action happens on the ice during the game, so to be truly effective—and make a difference—she, too, needed to be on the bench. The Raiders management agreed and she made this seamless transition; her passion for hockey has continued to grow over the past 25 years.
“Hockey is such an amazing game,” Dr. Carlo says. “The sport has given me great friends and a network of people that have become my hockey family. As a new Canadian, being embraced by this community made me feel connected and really welcome in my new chosen home.”
Training the Trainers
The work Dr. Carlo leads as chair of the trainers committee, she says, was “necessary and timely.” She feels honored to work with the OHA to increase the awareness of her fellow unsung heroes to other stakeholders.
“What I’m most pleased about is that we have a trainers’ committee and that it’s become a valuable resource,” she explains. “It was an underrepresented group of people who really are there at every single stage and step of the game and who have a unique perspective that is now being shared with all the different hockey stakeholders.”
The Trainers Committee organizes resources for the league’s trainers and organizes professional development opportunities, hosting clinics throughout the year. The committee is also a valuable resource to the OHA Executive since they offer real-time feedback to issues, concerns, and ways to improve the game for the players and for everyone who’s part of the OHA community.
Changing with The Game
The way hockey is played at all levels has changed dramatically since Dr. Carlo first fell in love with the sport more than 25 years ago. Players have gotten bigger and stronger and the speed of the game has increased with the advancement in equipment. With these changes came the implementation of new rules. The irony is that many of the new rules implemented in efforts to make the game safer—like calling more interference penalties—were counteracted by the way hockey evolved with bigger nets, bigger pads, more games, etc, combining to make trainers even more valuable at all levels of the game.
“As the game changed, our role expanded and with it we’ve seen a lot of advances in the area of player safety and injury prevention,” says Dr. Carlo. “We’ve all advanced our skills and continue to advance them through ongoing education. We now have good guidelines in place and protocols to follow such as those for concussions.”
Dr. Carlo gives credit to all the men and hockey families that served as mentors during her early years learning about the sport and its unique injuries, which has helped her to advance and grow into her current leadership role chairing the OHA Trainers Committee. Johanna also acknowledges that collaborative work she’s done with Technical Director Murray Nystrom.
“Murray and I frequently offer feedback on different professional development ideas and ways we can improve the overall player experience,” she says.
A more recent addition to her role is incorporating officials into the conversations with trainers and making them a part of an ongoing collaborative process.
“If you think about it, and this is so imperative, the officials are enforcing the rules of hockey and there is a lot of overlap with the rules and how the game is played and the potential injuries that may occur,” Dr. Carlo concludes. “When an injury occurs, it is often because a rule is broken or one of the rules wasn’t carried out. We are just starting these conversations and are asking questions like, ‘how can we troubleshoot something as simple as the most common injuries?’ and ‘what rules apply to the officials’ role in the emergency action plan and how can they be a resource to the trainer?’
“At the end of the day, most trainers are volunteers,” she adds. “We are all there for the same reason: to give back and to serve as a resource to everyone by helping grow, improve and develop the game.”
About the Ontario Hockey Association
The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) was founded on November 27, 1890, and is the governing body for the majority of Junior and Senior hockey in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is a Member Partner of the Ontario Hockey Federation which is one of thirteen Provincial and Regional Branches of Hockey Canada.
It is comprised of three Junior hockey leagues and two Senior hockey leagues: Junior A – Ontario Junior Hockey League; Junior B – Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League; Junior C – Provincial Junior Hockey League, Senior –Allan Cup Hockey (AAA) and Ontario Elite Hockey League (AA). For the 2024-25 season, these five leagues encompass 125 teams.
The objectives of the OHA are to foster and encourage the sport of amateur hockey, to conduct competition in the various categories established, to determine teams for entry into the inter-branch competitions that may be provided by Hockey Canada, and to provide for the affiliation of other hockey organizations.
The OHA provides administrative resources, coordinates programs, services and events for hockey participants and provides support to various Development Programs for coaches, officials, trainers and players, Safety and Risk Management Issues and offers resources for Harassment and Abuse education.
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For more information or to set up an interview, please contact:
Chris McCleary
General Manager, Operations & Marketing
Ontario Hockey Association
