Hockey Is For Everyone
By Stephanie Geosits

In February 2003 the NHL and its member clubs will highlight the growth of the game of hockey. The celebration will begin during the 2003 NHL All-Star Weekend presented by Nextel on Feb. 1-2 in South Florida and will culminate with the Eighth Annual Willie O’Ree All-Star Weekend, Feb. 22-24 in St. Paul. The Willie O’Ree All-Star Weekend is named for the NHL’s first black player and current director of youth development, and will feature 24 outstanding young people representing grass-roots hockey organizations across North America. It’s no secret that growing numbers of people have been watching and playing hockey during the last 20 years, but what may surprise you are the varied backgrounds of the participants and fans involved in the sport.

Last season, Jarome Iginla, born to a Nigerian father and American mother, put the spotlight on the League’s diversity when he won several awards, including the NHL scoring title. The expansion of hockey opportunities can be traced to several key moments in the game’s history, most notably with Willie O’Ree’s debut with the Boston Bruins in 1958, when he became the first black player in the NHL, helping to pave the way for a diverse group of players to reach new heights in the sport.

Although several black players would follow O’Ree to the NHL, including Grant Fuhr and Tony McKegney, his impact would be most evident during the mid-1990s, with the emergence of Anson Carter, Iginla and Mike Grier, among others.

Carter was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award in 1995 for the top men’s college hockey player in the NCAA. Born and raised in Toronto after his parents moved from their homeland of Barbados, he followed up his successful college career with a stint with O’Ree’s former team, the Boston Bruins.

“The game itself hasn’t changed,” said Carter, now with the Edmonton Oilers. “I think what has changed most is we’re seeing more minority players playing prominent roles on their respective teams. That by itself will help generate more interest among people who aren’t ‘traditional’ fans or even players.”

Three years ago, Scott Gomez, a young phenom from Alaska, became the first Hispanic to play in the NHL and dazzled opponents with his stellar play. Gomez, whose mother and father hail from Colombia and Mexico respectively, inspired Hispanics across North America to pick up hockey sticks and try the sport. By the end of his first NHL season in 2000, Gomez had earned the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie and a Stanley Cup ring.

“So many Hispanic kids want to play hockey because of Scott Gomez,” O’Ree said. “Then you look at Paul Kariya, who is of Japanese descent, and others. Youngsters want to be more like NHL players and have the opportunity to look up to them. They need these role models.”
On the heels of successful inner-city hockey programs such as Ice Hockey in Harlem in New York and the Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club in Washington, D.C., the NHL and USA Hockey collaborated to form the NHL/USA Hockey Diversity Task Force.

Now run by the NHL and known as NHL Diversity, the program was launched in 1995 to provide support to not-for-profit youth hockey organizations across North America that are committed to offering economically disadvantaged boys and girls of all ages opportunities to play hockey. Since its inception, NHL Diversity has exposed more than 30,000 boys and girls of various backgrounds to the sport.

In its first year of operation, NHL Diversity launched the Willie O’Ree All-Star Game, an annual event that honors the NHL trailblazer and celebrates the League’s growing diversity. It allows boys and girls ages 10-12 representing NHL Diversity programs from across North America to interact with NHL players, attend an NHL game and enjoy the host city. The Minnesota Wild and Minnesota Hockey will host the eighth annual event at the Xcel Energy Center.

“Diversity programs are a priority in the NHL and we work hard with all levels of grassroots hockey, especially USA Hockey, to expose our sport to as many kids as possible,” said Bernadette Mansur, executive director of NHL Foundation, which oversees NHL Diversity initiatives. “We are proud of all of our players and their multi-cultural heritage.”

Following the NHL’s and USA Hockey’s leads, several NHL players are taking an active role in hockey’s growth.

Edmonton Oilers goalie Tommy Salo and 2002 Stanley Cup winner Dominik Hasek are just two NHLers who came to North America to play in the NHL and started programs for kids. Swedish-born Salo developed the Tommy Salo Inner City Hockey Program to offer economically disadvantaged children in Edmonton the opportunity to play hockey. In 2001, Hasek formed Hasek’s Heroes in Buffalo to provide children from low and middle-income families the opportunity to learn to skate and acquire basic hockey skills.

“It’s good to give something back to kids,” Salo said. “I love kids myself. Many children and their families don’t have a lot [of money] to buy equipment. I was lucky to have that [a family who could afford for me to play hockey].”

Among the major barriers for kids with an interest in hockey are the costs associated with the sport, including equipment and ice time fees. Programs such as NHL Diversity, NHL A.S.S.I.S.T. and NHL Street are making the game more affordable and accessible.

To help alleviate the financial burdens associated with playing hockey, the NHL A.S.S.I.S.T. grant program was developed to defray the costs of equipment, the rental of ice time and travel expenses for youth hockey organizations. Since NHL A.S.S.I.S.T. was established in 1997 to Assist Skaters and Shooters In Succeeding Together, 75 youth hockey programs worldwide have received a total of $600,000 USD in financial support.

One of the many youth hockey org-anizations that faces challenges due to the lack of facilities and the overall cost of the sport is the D.C.-based Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club. What started as a few games of street hockey in 1977 in founder Neal Henderson’s driveway became the Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club when other neighborhood kids joined him and his son at the Fort Dupont Ice Arena. Twenty-five years later, Henderson is still teaching children the game of hockey at the same facility, the only one of its kind in the Washington, D.C. area.

In 1997, Fort Dupont was awarded a $10,000 NHL A.S.S.I.S.T. grant. This, coupled with the support of NHL players who visit the kids and offer tips on hockey, have helped Fort Dupont impact the lives of many youngsters. Carter, one of the NHL players who has served as a guest coach for the program, believes it is his and his fellow NHLers’ responsibility to be good role models and encourage young children’s interest in hockey.

“I can be a good player on the ice and kids will root for me,” said Carter. “But the real job of a professional athlete is to serve as a good role model off the ice. I embrace this role and I tell kids to go to school, study and take part in a sport you love. If that sport happens to be hockey, that’s even better.”

Stephanie Geosits is a freelance writer living in Toronto. Nirva Milord is the Manager of Diversity Programming for the NHL