MINNEAPOLIS — The history of Black people playing hockey goes back more than a century.
The Colored Hockey League was formed in 1895 by the Baptist church in Nova Scotia, using hockey as a way to advance young Black men to a level of equity while establishing leadership skills and community learned through playing the game.
Twenty-two years later, the NHL was formed, and Willie O'Ree broke the league's color barrier in 1958 as a player with the Boston Bruins. In January, the team retired his jersey, and a day later, Congress passed a bill to award him a Congressional Gold Medal. O'Ree is now an ambassador for the game's diversity and inclusion efforts.
"He cares so much about the kids, the next generation and just furthering the game, so just to give that tribute to him was long overdue," Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba said.
Minnesota Wild Director of Community Relations and Hockey Partnerships Wayne Peterson knows there is work to be done to attract more people of color to hockey and is working with the NHL to find solutions.
"A lot of people perceive hockey as a sport for white people, and we want to change that," Peterson said.
The Wild hosted Black History Month on Jan. 14 and celebrated by wearing custom jerseys during warmups, designed with different leaders in the Black community. Dumba and Jordan Greenway's jerseys were signed and raised $12,000 in an auction. The proceeds will benefit the Wild Foundation and Minnesota Hockey’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programming.
Out of 700 players in the NHL, only 43 are people of color — that's less than 5%. Dumba and Greenway are in that number. Dumba is now a major player in the Wild's diversity and inclusion initiatives.
"I think you're seeing more guys of color flourish in the game and just creates more strength," Dumba said. "It takes all types of people to make up the world that we live in, and same with hockey."
Dumba grew up playing hockey in Calgary, and although the game is a staple in Canada, he didn't always have the best experiences playing the sport he loves.
"It can be kind of lonely at times when you're going through some stuff that other players don't have to go through," Dumba said. "I think we're trying to build more of a sense of community and have everyone involved and feel like hockey is for everyone."
Dumba is doing his part to create change at the grassroots level through giving back to the community. His annual Hockey Without Limits camp aims to foster more diversity and inclusion by providing more children opportunities to play the game.
"For me to be able share some of the stuff that I've gotten from hockey, the friendships, a lot of the lessons I've learned along the way, I think it's huge," Dumba said. "It's a nostalgic feeling for me. Just brings me back to where I first fell in love with the game, so I hope for some of these kids it's the same feeling."
Shakopee head boys' hockey coach Calvin Simon is also on the front lines of bringing more people of color to hockey. Simon first put on a pair of skates when he was 3 years old. He grew up playing hockey in Shakopee, and recalls struggling with his identity after not seeing many people who look like him in those spaces.
"I remember walking into visiting rinks, and just feeling the eyes all on me, like, 'Who's that guy? What is he doing here?'" Simon said. "Maybe they didn't know I played on the team until they found out and watched. As time went on, I remember feeling the praise too, the kudos and support from a lot of people as well. That felt good."
Representation is important to Simon. He's the only Black head hockey coach in the state of Minnesota, and he's proud of it.
"We live in an instant world," Simon said. "We want the change to happen so fast, but incremental growth is really important. It's usually more sustainable. So, for my perspective, I think it's all going in the right direction."
Peterson, Dumba and Simon agree that reaching children is all about their access to resources. They hope that barrier is not so pronounced moving forward in order to advance toward the goal of making hockey a sport everyone feels welcome getting involved in.
"You need a lot of equipment, and it's expensive, but once you get a kid on the ice at a young age and they feel the breeze in their face, and experience the joy of it, they're hooked," Simon said.
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