- [Narrator] Major funding for this program, was made possible by UPMC.

Thank you.

(pucks clattering) - [Gavin] I started playing hockey, around seven years old.

(skates sliding) (upbeat music) Just practice after practice, I got better, and better and really fell in love with it.

As you get older and you start learning, you start to understand that hockey, as a sport isn't extremely diverse.

My greatest aspiration, I'd say, is to go to the NHL.

- [Narrator] Hockey has always been a game of silver skates, on white ice and with few exceptions, the players have been white too.

- Growing up playing hockey as a Black individual, I know the challenges that you face.

(whistle blows) - [Narrator] The Pittsburgh Penguins are among the National Hockey League teams, working to remove the barriers.

(whistle blows) With a unique program designed, to put more young Black players together on the ice, not only to advance their skills, but to give them a social connection, they may not get on school and club teams.

- If you are one on your team that can be lonely.

(dramatic music) - [Narrator] It's called the Willie O'Ree Academy.

- He is the Jackie Robinson of hockey.

- [Narrator] The program honors his legacy.

- It has to be all people, if you're gonna grow the game.

- [Narrator] This academy and its players, are working toward a goal of equity on ice.

- Seeing somebody who looks like you, I think all kids should experience that.

(birds chirping) - [Narrator] As the Western Pennsylvania summer heats up, young athletes from the Pittsburgh region play in the frozen world of an ice rink, and this program helps African American boys, and girls age 10 to 17 sharpen their skills, and build their confidence.

(upbeat music) - It feels good that I can play.

- [Narrator] The players already receive plenty of training, and practice on their teams back in their hometowns, but here the young athletes get something different, and just as important, a chance to play hockey with other Black kids, and enrich their hockey experience.

- Sometimes I might play a game, against another team that there's not really, any African American kids on the team.

Sometimes it makes me nervous because sometimes, even in football, there can be harsh things said, or people treat you differently, because of the color of your skin.

- [Narrator] The Pittsburgh Penguins, in partnership, with Dick's Sporting Goods, developed the program in 2021, and called it the Willie O'Ree Academy, in honor of the first black professional hockey player.

- I just went out and played, and tried to represent the hockey club, to the best of my ability.

- [Narrator] O'Ree was born in Canada, and first stepped onto NHL ice, with the Boston Bruins in 1958.

- Now I've got a Boston Bruins jersey on, and now I'm skating around, warming up, to play in my first NHL game in the National Hockey League.

I read it in the paper the next day, that you know, Willie O'Ree broke the color barrier.

- [Narrator] And then came a stroke of terrible luck.

- [Willie] The defenseman went out to block the shot, it ricocheted off his stick.

I'm standing in front of the goal for a deflection.

The puck comes up and hits me flat in the right eye.

I never told anybody except my younger sister, that I was blind in my right eye.

I never even told my parents, because I knew, that they would worry, but I swore my sister to secrecy.

I said, "Don't say anything because if it comes out, that I can't see outta my right eye and I'm blind, I'll never be able to play professional hockey, or play in the NHL."

- [Narrator] Despite being permanently blinded in that eye, O'Ree went on to play another 44 games for the Bruins, and then saw more ice time in the minors.

After hanging up his skates, he remained active in hockey.

- He's a symbol to the game, and he's a great ambassador to what the game should be.

- [Narrator] Kwame Damon Mason got to know Willie O'Ree, while making a documentary film called "Soul on Ice, Past, Present, and Future."

- [Kwame] At the time, I felt there was a void in the storytelling of the game of hockey, especially when it came to players of color.

- [Narrator] From the late 19th century, until the 1930s, Black Canadians played in the so-called Colored Hockey League.

But since then, professional hockey has been a game, played mostly by white athletes.

A reality tainted by ridiculous assertions.

- My white friends would make fun and say, "you know, the reason why there's no black people playing hockey, is because their ankles are too small, or the arenas are too cold."

Racism is a social issue, it's a world issue.

It's a human being condition, it's a human being disease.

And because the game of hockey is played by human beings, the game of hockey will be infected by racism as well.

- Did you go?

- [Narrator] In recent years, several black athletes have joined the Pittsburgh Penguins, including Jaden Lindo, a Canada native drafted in 2015.

After injury took him off the ice and back to Canada, Lindo returned to the team years later, working to bring young players of color into the sport, a role informed by his own harsh moments.

- I would say my first encounter, with racism was my first year of rep hockey.

I may have been six or seven, a kid said something to me on the ice, and that was the first time, that I truly felt isolated on the ice.

(gentle music) I think that first time really hits you differently, is where you really start to change your opinions, and your mindset, and when it happened, I didn't really know how to react, and I started crying on the ice and I cried on the bench.

Make it quick, make it quick!

Push yourself, push yourself!

- [Narrator] Lindo is now the manager, of community hockey programs for the Penguins, and he coaches the academy players, and more than that, he mentors them.

- If you guys wanna go to the next level, it's gotta take dedication.

You can't just go through the motions, every time you're out here.

I want to help facilitate them, to have a positive hockey experience.

You know, unfortunately a lot of them, you know, have had negative instances.

We want to really create an environment, where they felt safe and welcomed.

(upbeat music) - Jaden ending up working for the Pittsburgh Penguins, to me, was a bigger story, than him actually playing on the team as a player.

It just shows these young boys, and girls that, you know, your ultimate goal, doesn't have to be a professional hockey player.

You can still work inside the system to make change.

(puck clattering) - [Narrator] Before joining the academy, many of these players had not heard of Willie O'Ree.

Now the name has special meaning as they play, beneath the banner of the man, who carved a path for them all those years ago.

- I do think that his name was very well to use, for the academy because of what he did, and how he influenced the NHL and how he kind of inspires, and inspired young kids who maybe didn't look like, somebody who else, who played hockey.

- [Mason] I think many people are pushed, that are African-American and play hockey, because of him and other African-American hockey players.

- [Narrator] In his role as ambassador, Willie O'Ree came to Pittsburgh to celebrate the opening of the program named in his honor.

- I'm very fortunate to have the opportunity, to work with these programs, and help these boys and girls set goals for themselves.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] The Sweet Spot Barbershop, is the kind of neighborhood place, where you go for a little off the top and sides.

(clippers buzzing) (upbeat music) - We call it the Black man sanctuary.

(laughs) - [Narrator] And to talk about sports.

- We grow up watching basketball, football, baseball.

- [Narrator] Here in Pittsburgh's East Liberty neighborhood, the clients don't remember many kids playing hockey, or even supporting the home hockey team.

- Never been to a hockey game, it's not something we were exposed to as kids.

(gate opens) - [Narrator] For hockey, you need an ice rink and skates, and special gear, things that make the sport expensive, for most families.

(man yells) A seat at an NHL game can be pricey, too.

Fans of color are a much smaller part of the fan base.

In 2023, African-Americans accounted for 10%, of avid professional hockey fans across North America.

For the Penguins, about 13%, most of them casual fans are Black, and in the NHL, Black players make up less than 4% of team rosters, so chances are African Americans are more strongly represented in the stands than on the ice.

I know when we pick up a sport and we dive into it, wholeheartedly, we really commit to it.

- [Narrator] You'll see Raymond Moore in the stands, he didn't play or watch hockey growing up, but discovered it as a student at the University of Pittsburgh.

- A lot of my college friends were really into hockey, and they knew the players, they knew the names, they knew the stats.

I actually have an autograph from Mario Lemieux, that my good friend got for me.

- [Narrator] Raymond's sons follow hockey, but play soccer, another sport that lacks diversity.

- [Raymond] My one son, he was one of two Black players, on the team and his teammates, you know, of course, welcome them with open arms, but then when they would travel, he would have things said to him, I would talk to him, just, keep your head up, just play your game.

(sticks clattering) - [Narrator] Raymond would tell young hockey players, the same thing.

Find a place on the ice and play your game.

- I think that if we actually had more reach out, into Black communities, we'd actually have more commitment from players, kids growing up and wanting to actually play hockey.

(puck clattering) - I grew up in a town called Simsbury, a small town, in New England, and my parents insisted, that I learned to skate, because they felt, it was just one of those skills you should have.

So I think I was eight years old, and they bought a pair of figure skates for me, you know, which I'm thinking, I want hockey skates, but they gave me figure skates, and that's why I learned to skate.

(sticks clattering) My name is Andrew Stockey, who you might know me, as the evening news anchor and sports director, at WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh, the ABC station.

(players yell) I just think it's exciting, it's energizing, it's just constant motion and action.

(player yells) And then a couple days a week, I put on pads, and I play hockey.

- [Narrator] As a man who both plays hockey... - Now let's talk about this hockey game.

- [Narrator] And covers it, Andrew Stockey recognizes why a program, like the Willie O'Ree Academy is necessary.

- [Andrew] Hockey is one of those sports, that it's a niche sport.

Their championships are not on broadcast television.

You know, they're playing the Stanley Cup playoffs, it's on ESPN, which I know everybody gets, but it's not on broadcast TV.

It's not seen like the NBA finals or the Super Bowl.

They have got to build the sport.

(upbeat music) So I met Mr. O'Ree, this had to be the early 2000s, so I had a chance to interview him and talk to him, he even gave me his card and signed it.

He's somebody who's excited about the game.

His enthusiasm rubbed off on me.

- [Narrator] Long before he played hockey, Andrew played both youth baseball and youth football, for teams on which he was the only Black player.

- [Andrew] It hit me like, okay, I'm different, I'm not like everybody else here, but it didn't stop me from playing.

- [Narrator] Because of that experience, he understands the importance, of putting young Black players on the ice, together.

- [Andrew] And I can see, how that's a bonding experience, and I hope that more young children of color, will play hockey so that they can have that experience.

I'm at the age now where I don't worry about other people looking like me in order to enjoy the the sport, but I think a lot of young people do, especially in the world we live in now, a world that is is divided in many ways.

Kershawn, nice pass.

Just to have one teammate, or a couple teammates who can relate, to the life you've been through, the things you've experienced, the discrimination you've experienced, it makes playing a lot more fun.

You forget about the way people look.

(sticks clatter) (people cheer) You focus more on the way they play.

To have somebody out there who can say, "look, you know what, it's okay, I've been through this too, let me help you."

(car honks) (upbeat music) - [Gavin] I am 14 years old and I play ice hockey.

(sticks clattering) It's a sport that I love and I really find interest in it, in the process and working hard every day.

- [Narrator] Gavin Durden is a student, at a suburban Pittsburgh school district, where most of his athlete classmates, play football or soccer or baseball.

When he puts all the pads and skates, Gavin is an outlier.

- I really didn't see it, as like a weirder sport or something different.

I just saw it as any other sport, and I didn't really know it was an option, until I stepped on the edge for the first time.

(upbeat music) - [Ellen] I often ask myself why he picked ice hockey, which has the worst schedule, and the most travel out of every sport there is.

First time that he stepped on the ice, he couldn't stay on his feet and you know, really at that point his dad took an interest, in making sure that he could at least feel better, about being able to just simply ice skate.

- [Narrator] Sadly, when Gavin was 10, his father died suddenly.

- [Gavin] My father, his name was Oliver Durden.

- [Narrator] He was an Allegheny County police officer, well respected as a detective and a leader.

Although he didn't play hockey, father and son often skated together.

(pucks clattering) - [Gavin] He was one of my greatest influences, when I started playing hockey.

He was always an extremely hard worker growing up, and he always strived to ingrain that in our brain, and it really is just a part of me now.

- When we're doing these breakouts- - [Narrator] During the regular hockey season, Gavin plays for the Pittsburgh Icemen youth team, where he's often the only Black player.

- There were times, where I felt singled out out of a team.

- [Narrator] But during the summer, Gavin skates with a team where he blends in.

- [Jaden] One knee quick, one knee quick, one knee quick.

- [Narrator] The Willie O'Ree Academy puts Gavin on the ice, with players from other communities in the region, players who not only look like he does, but who may share the same life experiences.

- I could really see optically, that he was in a unique situation where, you know, he didn't have the diversity, on the teams that he played with.

And so I think the opportunity for the Willie O'Ree Academy, for Gavin to really be around kids who experience, some of the same things day to day has meant a lot to him.

- [Jaden] That's it, that's it.

- [Gavin] I just motivate myself by seeing other players like these great guys in the NHL who have created a legacy.

- I think just Gavin, having that opportunity, to connect with people who can relate to him, through the eyes of his father, person of color, I think has really helped Gavin cope, through some of the changes he's experienced.

(whistle blows) - Move those feet, move those feet!

- [Gavin] When I'm on the ice, some things that my dad taught me or had said to me, as a kid that come up in my mind, are just going 110% every single shift you're on the ice, winning your shift, outworking the guy next to you.

If there's a loose puck battle, you gotta get there, you get scored on, you gotta stay up, if you score, you gotta stay level and just always battle.

- All right, switch out two blues, one gray.

- [Ellen] There are definitely times that Gavin's performance is phenomenal, and you think as a mom that, how proud his dad would be to see that.

There's times that you know, as a mom, you hope that you have the right things to say, but you can't help but just wonder if his dad was there, would he have better advice to give?

I think the Willie O'Ree Academy, and some of the coaching that Gavin's been able to seek out over the years, I think having some, you know, good hockey coach mentors has really helped to keep him motivated and inspired to continue to get better.

(puck clatters) (upbeat music) Knowing that hockey really brings him that joy, and helps him stay connected, to all those times that he spent with his father.

It's worth every second.

- [Gavin] Hockey's a challenge for me, and I enjoy going up against hard opponents, but learning from those experiences, makes you such a better player, and you can really see that.

One thing that I always do when I have a bad game, is to just view the situation as a whole, and think about where I started.

Think about where I am now.

Think about the work that you put in every day, and really just try and apply that to your game, and when things aren't going as well, as you think they should be, don't get down on yourself and just keep going every day.

(upbeat music) (sticks clatter) - I love to play hockey.

- [Narrator] Trey Fann is ten, and is among the youngest players, at the Willie O'Ree Academy.

What he lacks in experience he makes up for in aspirations.

- I wanna be at a higher level of hockey.

(skates sliding) - Whatever he wants to do.

If it's hockey, dance, going to the moon, whatever it is, we're gonna be like, at least first two rows ready to support him.

- [Narrator] At Academy skates, that fatherly support can come with unexpected surprises.

- [Richard] First time I came to this Willie O'Ree practice, was like, I couldn't find my son.

I almost had a panic attack because it was like, where's Trey?

And then he starts wearing these different stockings on his legs.

Now the next step is making sure he knows the work that goes into it and remembering the history, of the people kind of came before him.

So he doesn't take that for granted.

- [Trey] I see a lot of more people that look like me, and it makes me happy that all these kids are playing.

(playful music) - [Hannah] I was on the line of the house, I went all the way back, and then I shot it up.

- [Grandmother] Okay.

- And then I scored.

And then there's another shot.

But the net saved the goal, instead.

- [Narrator] Hannah Spradley is giving her grandparents a recap of her latest game.

(whistle blows) She plays on an all-girl team on the rink at Robert Morris University, and with the Willie O'Ree Academy.

- When I scored a goal, it was so fun.

- [Jessica] She asked if girls can do this, and then Hannah said she wanted to be a goalie, and I about had a heart attack, every time she was on the ice.

(laughs) (skates sliding) - [Paul] There's a lot of things that she was doing that were sort of a bit more advanced.

(whistle blowing) - [Jessica] Oftentimes she's the only girl on her teams.

We've been blessed this year for her to be able to play on two all girl teams, and have the Willie O'Ree Academy, where she can be affirmed as a female and a Black female.

- There's a level of comfort of the kids, coming onto the ice and it's okay for the kids to fall.

It's okay for the kids to make a mistake.

They don't have to be the work, you know, this mindset of working twice as hard, because they're just with their peers, and I think that they feel that.

The thing about where Hannah can go with hockey, I think that hockey's greatest gift, has already happened for her.

Through her confidence, through her ability to do this thing that's unique, through her ability to understand herself, as a woman, as a powerful woman.

- The boy was born in the ice storm.

(sticks clattering) I had a feeling, that something's going to be about that kid with ice.

- [Narrator] Sheldon Simmons' hunch, about his baby son was right.

Mason Simmons is 15 now, loves hockey and has found a home at the academy.

- I think it's the adrenaline, that gets me to really like hockey, and the push to you can be a star from the sport.

I mean there's other sports that's the same way, but hockey I think to me is different.

- [Narrator] With it's demanding travel and ice schedules, hockey is among the most time consuming of all youth sports.

- He's starting back.

- [Narrator] The Academy offers something important, for the parents who may not have much in common, with moms and dads from other teams.

- They've given us a community to reach out to, and have a solid foundation for us to be able to answer the questions that our son has at home, when he deals with things off the ice and on the ice.

- [Jaden] Break it up, break it up.

- [Jessica] With having a Black hockey player, and having somebody to talk to, and relate to on a parent level.

For me it was refreshing.

There are things that I may perceive or I experience, that I can't always talk to the other parents about, because I know that they don't understand.

Not because they don't want to, not because they're not empathetic, but because they just don't experience those situations, in the same way as I do.

- [Narrator] The Academy is a wide welcoming net, that gathers the players and their families, and places them on common ground, and at the center of it is Coach Jaden Lindo.

- Jaden's an extremely relatable guy, he's really funny, and he's a great coach, on and off the ice.

- Three, two, black!

- [Mason] And he kind of pushed me more, to wanna be better and develop my skills.

Now I can carry that on to my high school team.

- [Jaden] Three, two, three, two!

I have heard of some of the challenges that they face.

Definitely have to have thick skin, especially in the social media era, nowadays.

Comments on, you know, posts, or those sort of things that, you know, most people don't have to deal with.

It's definitely another barrier.

But we've had had discussions and we want to allow that open discussion of how we can be prepared, but also how we can handle those instances.

Go do the drill again, put some effort in and get better.

- [Paul] They're seeing an excellent Black coach, coaching hockey and the camaraderie that was being built, was beautiful, it was overwhelming.

- [Narrator] Even talented and motivated youngsters like these may never have a career as a professional hockey player, but the academy is working to ensure there will be a place for them in hockey.

- They can play on the ice, they can be working, in the front office, they can work in hockey operations.

- [Narrator] The academy offers classes, and other events to show the members they can make a career anywhere in the sport.

- [Tracey] This youth that are starting right now, they are going to then be the mentors.

- [Instructor] In the scouting world.

- [Tracey] We want them to know, through the Willie O'Ree Academy, that you belong there just like anybody else on your team.

(sticks clattering) (child talking) - [Narrator] Hockey teams talk about home ice, and its competitive advantages.

These players have a home on the ice, a place that gives them something beyond competition.

(players yell) - I get to see all my friends, I get to make new friends and it's a really fun experience.

(skates slide) (whistle blows) - [Jaden] I'm just so excited for her, to have these opportunities, right, to see herself in a hockey jersey, playing for an Ivy League school, because that's a door, that's been opened for her.

(whistle blows) - [Narrator] And as the young athletes work on their game, they're also learning to work through life's challenges.

- [Jaden] Hockey is sort of like a metaphor for life, in the sense that in hockey, unfortunately, minorities have have had and are still having, to overcome a lot of challenges and barriers, to just play the game, to receive equal treatment, equal opportunity in hockey.

And I think the same thing goes, for in life.

(uplifting music) In a lot of circumstances.

- I'm just going to keep on playing the sport, doing as best I possibly can, and wherever it takes me, that's where I'll go.

- Watching him makes me proud.

- [Narrator] And as the families look ahead to what comes next, they're also looking back, to the man who first opened the door.

- It isn't lost on me that Willie had to play half blind for most of his career and he's still a Hall of Famer.

- So I'm forever grateful for what he did.

I know how much I fell in love with the game and you know, I don't want anyone who fell in love with it like I did, to go through the similar challenges, just because they want to play a game.

- [Paul] So that's what I'm hopeful, continues to happen with programs, like the Willie O'Ree Academy, is that people have access, to this great sport, this incredibly entertaining, this fast-paced sport and they just needed the entry point.

I think the Willie O'Ree Academy is that entry point.

- Being around people who look like you, really just lets you embrace yourself, and embrace who you are as a person, and you can really just be yourself.

(upbeat music)