Hockey in the Hood a look at hockey’s future

If you took a quick glance around the second annual Hockey in the Hood tournament, it might seem like any other winter weekend of hockey — thrilled players hauling bags of equipment around the rink, enthusiastic parents spooning up chili, new friends meeting and old ones catching up — but a closer look revealed something much more meaningful.

The Hockey in the Hood tournament, hosted by the Detroit Hockey Association (DHA) at Detroit’s Jack Adam’s Arena on Feb. 24-26, wasn’t just unique because players could have their picture taken with the Stanley Cup and rub elbows with the gregarious and generous Willie O’Ree, the NHL’s first African-American player. Hockey in the Hood also drew participants from eight NHL Diversity Task Force youth hockey associations from Chicago, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Washington D.C., Harlem, Columbus and Detroit’s Clark Park. African-American, Latino, Asian, Native American and Caucasian players were in attendance.

“It’s great, because it really shows what society as a whole could be,” said Dan Brennan, a board member with the NHL/USA Hockey Diversity Task Force, which supports programming designed to promote the game to non-traditional audiences. The Task Force, which aided in the execution of the event, has been instrumental in building not just programs, but genuine passion among new players.

“The kids are incredibly excited,” said Jay Cohen, a coach with the Illinois AHAI Diversity Program. “None of them are sleeping tonight.”
It’s that excitement and passion in the eyes of young children that constantly energizes O’Ree, who has been the face of diversity in hockey for half a century.  “That passion - you can see it in their eyes, in the way they are on the ice,” he said.

O’Ree uses this passion to instill his primary message to young athletes that in both life and hockey they can do absolutely anything they put their mind to. O’Ree, who was told at age nineteen that he would never play hockey after losing an eye, went on to play professionally for a number of years and views hockey as a way that young people can learn to set goals and then strive whole-heartedly toward achieving them.
“We teach not only hockey skills, but life skills,” he said. “If you can go on a shift and be able to say you worked as hard as you can, that’s really something. It’s all about learning and discipline.”

O’Ree believes that the primary reason there aren’t more minorities in hockey is a simple lack of opportunity, and he, along with the Task Force, has yielded tremendous results in not only providing youth with something fun to do, but also giving natural talent a chance to be displayed.

“I’ve never had a kid who, once they got on the ice, said they didn’t like it,” he said. “Ninety-five percent have a natural talent for the game, but they never get the opportunity.”

Not only is hockey good for a diverse population, but a diverse population is important for the growth of the game at all levels of the game.

“[Diversity] is absolutely important,” said Brennan. “As the game gets more diverse, the play will get better, because there will be opportunity for the best athletes to be playing.”

From a logistical standpoint, Cohen explained that the Task Force helps generate opportunities to expose otherwise unconventional hockey players to the game. He says that the Task Force provides interested parties with a “blueprint for starting” and plenty of advisement along the way, particularly about financial issues. Most of these teams use donated equipment and subsidized ice time —the Chicago Blackhawks aid Cohen’s team — and free registration with USA Hockey.

Ice time tends to be the hardest commodity to come by, and while Brennan says that “it’s something we’re slowly conquering,” he recognizes that most of the teams the Task Force works with still tend to have significantly less ice time than their all-white counterparts. Neal Henderson, Vice-President and Executive Board member of the Task Force, explains that it’s a challenge for players to go into games against more seasoned teams on just a few hours a week.

“There are so many adversities,” he said, “But the players are able to feel a part of something.”

Brennan concurred and observed that for any player, the chance to come to a tournament, get their picture taken with the Stanley Cup and meet a professional player are “memories that they will cherish.”

But the excitement and team-oriented energy aren’t exclusive to a single weekend. Jill Babcock, a hockey mom whose son plays for the Detroit Dragons, recognized that the DHA program, and the tournament in particular, demonstrate the “value of promoting diversity in hockey. This is a special group of kids that are forging an uphill battle,” she shared.

Diane Garcia, a mother whose son has played with the DHA Dragons for fourteen years, adds that hockey has been a critical part of her family’s life.

“The [DHA] teams are really united,” she said, and said that the team’s growth — both in numbers and terms of diversity, has been enormous. “It’s been mostly word of mouth.”

Garcia also appreciates the outlet that hockey has given her son, who is now eighteen.

“At that age, [kids] could be out there doing anything,” she said.
Word of mouth is proving to be the key means of recruitment in Detroit, a city dubbed “Hockeytown,” yet where most inner-city youth can still be found playing football or basketball.  

DHA President Will McCants views Hockey in the Hood as a way not just to keep growing the game among current players, but also to spark interest in kids who might be curious about trying the game.

“The tournament is a fantastic opportunity for those interested in hockey here in Detroit to find out more about the Detroit Hockey Association, to see kids of diverse ethnic backgrounds from the Midwest and East coast play hockey, and to help support our efforts to make hockey a sport available to all kids,” said McCants.

Similarly, Henderson believes that hockey is a great sport for any athlete of any race, particularly because the game—while often financially exclusive—can be physically inclusive in a way that many sports, particularly at the elite level, aren’t. 

“So many kids are not 6-10 or 300 pounds to play basketball or football,” said Henderson, “But they do have speed, agility, and a lot of enthusiasm for the sport.”

That enthusiasm was tangible during a raucous opening ceremony when fans packed the arena. McCants challenged the crowd: “we have to keep this going!” he urged, and then unveiled the Willie O Cup, to be awarded to the victorious team.

McCants’ desire to keep the energy and spirit going is already being realized—the tournament has grown exponentially since last year’s event, which featured only the DHA’s Detroit Dragons and the Fort Dupont Cannons from Washington, D.C. That trend will likely continue. Dragons assistant coach Alexander Alan said that at least four other teams from California, Boston, and Philadelphia had already expressed interest in participating next year.

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