You Can Play
organization
You Can Play is a social activism campaign that aims to eliminate homophobia in sports, based on the slogan, "If you can play, you can play." The campaign was launched on March 4, 2012, by three co-founders: Patrick Burke (a scout for the Philadelphia Flyers and son of Brian Burke), Brian Kitts, and Glenn Witman (both affiliated with GForce Sports). The death of Brendan Burke, son of Brian and brother of Patrick, played a significant role in inspiring the campaign. Notably, "You Can Play" is an official partner of the National Hockey League, with Wade Davis serving as the former executive director of the organization. Presently, Wade Davis holds the position of Director of Professional Sports.
Background
Prior to his death, Brendan Burke was renowned for his dedicated efforts to combat homophobia within the hockey community. Brendan served as a student manager for the Miami University RedHawks hockey team and gained significant recognition when he publicly came out as a gay man in 2009. His coming-out story was shared through an article written by John Buccigross and published on ESPN.com. Brendan and his father, Brian, appeared together on the Canadian channel TSN during a nationally televised hockey game intermission, where they openly discussed Brendan's sexuality and his father's acceptance of him.
During the interview, Brendan said, "I think it's important my story is told to people because there are a lot of gay athletes out there and gay people working in pro sports that deserve to know there are safe environments where people are supportive regardless of your sexual orientation."
Brendan died on February 5, 2010, in a car accident. He was only 21 years old, leaving behind a legacy of bravery, advocacy, and a sincere desire for inclusivity in sports.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “You Can Play” as organization. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the history & society register because the source frames it as organization. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Contemporary correspondence, administrative files and participant testimony can test how later narratives organized the event or institution. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q8057113. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2012, 2009 and 2010.
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This entry incorporates text from “You Can Play” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.