Diversity in Hockey

[epstud74 24]

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1270292.html

Link to video.. May have to sign up for free

http://www.startribune.com/video/rich_media/1260456.html

[Jarick 5]

"most of his teammates and classmates are white kids of European descent"

:lol: where else would white kids have descended from?

A lot of the immigration from SE Asia and NE Africa seems to be killing the inner city hockey programs. I think that Minneapolis is just down to one high school team now? But the hockey kids seem to migrate out towards the suburbs. Wonder if that's common anywhere else?

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

Our monthly charity games we have at least 2, usually 3 black guys, 2 asians, a scot, an english guy, and myself, the resident mick.

There's your diversity right there !!

[epstud74 24]

"most of his teammates and classmates are white kids of European descent"

:lol: where else would white kids have descended from?

A lot of the immigration from SE Asia and NE Africa seems to be killing the inner city hockey programs. I think that Minneapolis is just down to one high school team now? But the hockey kids seem to migrate out towards the suburbs. Wonder if that's common anywhere else?

I believe Minneapolis Southwest still has a team, but only because of the demographics of the school..I think Edison had a program until a couple years ago. I've played in a pickup game or two at Victory Memorial Ice Arena..I believe the old Patrick Henry HS teams played there? I've played with a few black kids at that rink..There's always 5-6 of em skating around, but is the only black star out of the Twin Cities Kyle Okposo? Whatever happened to Minneapolis Roosevelt? Mike Ramsey played there. The change in demographics has killed old powerhouses like St Paul Johnson too.

[Datsyukiandeek 0]

I have seen one black player in 9 years of playing inline.

[Patrick67 1]

We got black, chinese, korean, white, eskimo and arab.

Arabs are the most rare without a doubt, have only played against 2 ever. But still the diversity around here is pretty good. (compared to most places)

But yeah, pretty much all teams are still from the "richer" suburbs.

I know for a fact that it has nothing to do with race, when it comes to appreciating hockey, alas it's money (thus demographics in a way). We're playing an expensive sport, that requires way to much equipment and facilities, to become mainstream.

[Bane 1]

I know it's not MN, but hockey diversity is changing everywhere. Here in OC California, we have a huge population of Hispanic and Asian hockey players. I personally think it is great to see, and with the Ducks winning the cup it should only increase. I am really surprised though that Highschool hockey has had that much of a decreasin in MN. I grew up in North Dakota, and back in the day it seemed like every high school in MN had a hockey program, I know there were quite a few interstate tournaments between us and programs in MN.

[Flack38 0]

Without getting into too much detail diversity in ice hockey holds a special place in my heart. There was a program in NY that helped kids play ALL sports, my older brother and I wanted hockey... mostly because that they had gear that fit us and the other sports were over crowded. If its true like a couple of the guys said that these programs are closing down in these schools I think people in that community should do all they can to keep them up and running. This program not just only changed mylife but I can assure you for the first 12 years before we moved out of the city it kept me out of trouble. By that time a lot of my friends were already starting to get caught up in the drug game and two of my older friends were killed. MBNA bank use to have a program that they ran at the Pond Ice Arena in Newark Delware (where my family moved to) and I was the first person to sign up to help. It made me really happy to see kids playing hockey that otherwise would not have had the chance.

[Nutella 0]

I live in Minnesota.

The diversity I have seen at St. Cloud is one (1) African-American guy.

That, and a guy from Czech and myself from Spain.

[cris8 0]

Looking at diversity from another angle, there are burgeoning hockey leagues across Canada and the US for disabled individuals. There's special needs hockey (for autistic, Down's syndrome, etc.), sled hockey, and hockey for the hearing-impaired.

Hockey has reached out to these people in society more than any other sport. Because of hockey, there are now disabled kids who are now aspiring to play organized sports instead of being cooped up at home.

The level of play is also highly competitive.

[forbs02 20]

Here is an articlefrom a couple of years ago regarding diversity and the Hmong population in Minneapolis/St. Paul. It's a pretty good article and it has a video to go with it too.