Harrison Browne

Harrison Browne (born May 13, 1993) is a professional ice hockey centre who played for the Metropolitan Riveters and Buffalo Beauts of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL). Browne was assigned female at birth and played in women's competitions during his ice hockey career; he came out as a transgender man in 2016 and was the first openly transgender athlete in a professional team sport during his career.[1]

For those of a similar name, see Harrison Brown (disambiguation).

Harrison Browne
Harrison Browne playing for the Metropolitan Riveters in 2017
Born (1993-05-13) May 13, 1993
Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 5 in (165 cm)
Weight 128 lb (58 kg; 9 st 2 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
NWHL team
Former teams		 Metropolitan Riveters
Playing career 2015–2018
Medal record
Women's ice hockey
Representing  Canada
IIHF World Women's U18 Championships
2011 SwedenTeam
Representing  Ontario
Canada Winter Games
2011 Halifax 2011 Tournament

Playing career

Hockey Canada

Browne played for Team Canada at the 2011 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship, appearing in the gold medal game.[2] Among his teammates on Team Canada included future Mercyhurst and Beauts teammates Shelby Bram and Amanda Makela. Browne was also a member of the Ontario provincial team that gained the silver medal at the 2011 Canada Winter Games.[3]

Collegiate

Browne played one season for the Mercyhurst Lakers before transferring to the University of Maine, playing his remaining collegiate years with the Black Bears.[4] Browne's NCAA debut took place on September 30, 2011 with the Mercyhurst Lakers in a contest against the Quinnipiac Bobcats. He waited until October 29, 2011 for his first career NCAA goal, scoring against conference rival Lindenwood in a road contest.

Browne's debut with Maine took place against Quinnipiac, with the match held on October 12, 2012. His first goal with Maine also took place on January 19, 2013 against the Vermont Catamounts. The last goal of his NCAA career occurred on February 21, 2015 against the Connecticut Huskies.

Professional

Browne signed a professional contract with the Buffalo Beauts of the newly formed NWHL on August 29, 2015.[4] In the 2015–16 season, he played in 18 games, scored 5 goals and had 12 points. He played in 5 games in the NWHL postseason, scoring 2 goals and 2 assists.[5]

On May 14, 2016, Browne signed a second one-year contract with the Beauts.[6]

In October 2016, Browne came out as a transgender man and thus became the first openly transgender athlete in professional American hockey. Browne will not hormonally transition until the end of his professional playing career, as the hormones involved in female-to-male gender transition violate anti-doping regulations.[7]

Playing for Team Kessel, Browne scored two goals at the 2nd NWHL All-Star Game.[8]

On March 14, 2017, Browne announced he would be retiring from the NWHL at the end of the season to begin hormone replacement therapy and continue his gender transition in privacy.[9]

On March 19, 2017 Browne won the Isobel Cup with the Buffalo Beauts, becoming the first openly transgender athlete to win a national championship on a team sport.

On August 7, 2017 he announced he would be putting his retirement on hold and would instead return for the 2017–18 season with the Metropolitan Riveters.[10]

On April 25, 2018 Browne won the Isobel Cup for the second time, this time with the Metropolitan Riveters (the team's first win).

On April 30, 2018 Browne again announced his retirement from the NWHL.[11]

Post-retirement

Since his retirement from the NWHL, Browne has primarily devoted his time to speaking engagements across North America. He has given talks and spoken on panels at colleges, such as Ohio State University, American University, and Fleming College as well as LGBTQ events, such as Outsports Pride.[12]

In August 2019, Browne announced on his personal twitter that he was beginning a new career as an actor.[13] He emphasized that he plans to advocate for more transgender visibility in his new venture as he had in his athletic career.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2011–12 Mercyhurst Lakers CHA 32 3 2 5 12 3 0 0 0 2
2012–13 Maine Black Bears HE 33 2 4 6 38 — — — — —
2013–14 Maine Black Bears HE 30 3 7 10 49 — — — — —
2014–15 Maine Black Bears HE 33 7 10 17 34 2 0 0 0 0
2015–16 Buffalo Beauts NWHL 18 5 7 12 26 5 2 2 4 10
2016–17 Buffalo Beauts NWHL 17 2 4 6 22 2 0 0 0 2
2017–18 Metropolitan Riveters NWHL 16 3 6 9 8 2 0 1 1 0

References
  1. Pruski, Scout (November 28, 2018). "Harrison Browne talks Ovi, activism in visit to American University". NBC Sports Washington. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  2. "IIHF World Womens U18 Championship, PLAY-OFF ROUND GOLD MEDAL GAME – GAME 22, Game Summary" (PDF). iihf.com. January 8, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 13, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  3. "2011 Canada Winter Games, Participant". Canada Winter Games 2011. n.d. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  4. "Browne and Sass Head to Buffalo". National Women's Hockey League. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
  5. "Hailey Browne". Elite Prospects. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
  6. Nelson, Dustin (May 14, 2016). "Hailey Browne and Devon Skeats Rejoin Beauts". The Hockey Writers. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
  7. "NWHL player Harrison Browne comes out as a transgender man". ESPN. October 7, 2016. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  8. "NWHL Stars Shine Bright in Pittsburgh". NWHL. February 13, 2017. Archived from the original on February 15, 2017. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  9. Higgins, Matt. "Leaving Women's Hockey to 'Fly Under the Radar,' as Himself". New York Times. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
  10. Staff, NWHL.zone (August 7, 2017). "Harrison Browne Puts Retirement on Hold, Joins Riveters for 2017–18 Season".
  11. Murphy, Mike. "Trailblazer Harrison Browne announces his retirement". The Ice Garden. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  12. "Harrison Browne". Harrison Browne.
  13. @HBrowne24 (August 19, 2019). "Hi Twitter friends! I have some life updates to share with you all. Here's to the next chapter! 🎥" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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