Word: hockey
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...that hockey hasn't tried to reverse its luck. Since 1995, the league has spent over $6 million to expand its Diversity Program, which O'Ree, 72, helps direct. When the NHL started its diversity initiative, there were 5 inner-city hockey programs in North America. Now, there are 39. This year, the league has expanded its "Hockey in the Hood" tournament to include more teams. Coleman himself is a product of these efforts. "There are more kids of color playing hockey today than ever before," says O'Ree, though there's no statistical proof to back this claim...
...players on NHL rosters today, only 12 are black - a level that has remained flat over the last decade. "Sport as an institution doesn't just fall out of the sky," says Earl Smith, a Wake Forest University sociologist who wrote about blacks in hockey in his 2007 book Race, Sport and the American Dream. "It has to be embedded in the community, in the society the sport is trying to reach. For the NHL, it's a losing proposition...
...even if it's true that more blacks have taken up hockey, the sport still lacks a fan base in urban areas. And luring more blacks to hockey might be an impossible task. The sport hasn't been particularly kind to blacks. The game is littered with racial hostilities toward black players, from both fans and opposing players. While the vitriol isn't as vicious as it was in O'Ree's day, Coleman has heard the n-word on the ice; just five years ago, some slob threw a banana at ex-Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Kevin Weekes during...
...inner-city players. "You have to make it more accessible," says Calgary Flames star Jarome Iginla, who grew up in Edmonton and is one of the best black players of all-time. "Basketball courts are everywhere. Baseball diamonds, football fields, soccer fields, all those things are readily available. Hockey, unfortunately, has more obstacles...
...where there are facilities, you have to pay for ice time ? often at very odd morning and evening hours. And unless you live by a frozen Saskatchewan pond, you can't just round up your buddies for a pickup game. Between equipment, travel to rinks, and ice fees, hockey is also prohibitively expensive for many urban families. "How are you going to convince parents to pay $6,000 so their kids can play hockey?" asks Coleman. The NHL could invest more money to subsidize these costs for potential players, but with so few African-American pros in the sport today...