It was a short, but important career for hockey’s first transgender player.
Harrison Browne has announced that he will be retiring from the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) at the end of the season.
"It's not goodbye, it's see you later" https://t.co/XLoKhokRCq
— Harrison Browne (@Hbrowne24) March 14, 2017
“After much thought and consideration, I have made an incredibly difficult decision that this will be my final year of playing professional women’s hockey,” Browne said in a statement released by the NWHL. “I have had a meaningful and impactful career playing the sport I cherish for the past 15 years, but it is time for me to move on and begin my career off the ice.”
It’s a young retirement for Browne, who is just 23-years-old, but you’d be farfetched to say he didn’t make an impact.
Browne came out as a transgender man in October 2016, becoming the first openly transgender professional athlete in North America.
Statistically, it hasn’t been a banner year for Browne, but he did put up six points in 17 games and scored a goal in the NWHL All-Star game, playing for Team Kessel.
In a Youtube video posted to his personal account, Browne talks about moving on with his life off the ice as the main reason for retirement.
A big part of that will be the rest of his physical transition from a woman to a man, which wasn’t a realistic process while playing a full season of hockey.
“Transitioning definitely is a big deal for me and it’s a factor into my pros and cons list in deciding whether this is my final year,” Browne said in the Youtube video. “I don’t want to start a job and pursue a career and build in the workforce as a woman in this body.”
“I don’t want to be a pre-op trans man that’s viewed as a woman in society, I get misgendered all the time and that’s not something I want in my life.”
Well, at least I'm not the shortest. Proud to be here with these Beauts! #NWHLAllStarGame pic.twitter.com/x89Eakffd8
— Harrison Browne (@Hbrowne24) February 11, 2017
Browne clarified, however, that he isn’t being forced to retire by any means.
He says he had a long and successful hockey career that he looks back on proudly on and “did not give up on.”
