By Annette John-Hall
Philadelphia Inquirer - March 2, 2010

Last week, Kashiem Jones bet his coach $10 that the U.S.A. would beat Canada in the men's Olympic gold-medal hockey game Sunday.
Oh, well. Looks like Team Canada conspired to make Jones' pocket a little bit lighter.

But that's OK. The sheer enthusiasm Jones shows for hockey counts as a victory for hockey itself.

After all, a kid like Kashiem - 16, black, from West Philly - isn't supposed to know about the sport, much less care about it.

Sure, they can recite chapter and verse from the book of LeBron and Kobe. But Crosby and Ovechkin? Are you kidding me?

Let's face it: Most of the faces of the Winter Olympics were as white as the snow on Whistler Mountain. Only a handful of non-whites competed, including Canadian forward Jarome Iginla, French ice-dancing pair Vanessa James and Yannick Bonheur, the "Snow Leopard," skier Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong of Ghana, and, most notably, American gold-medal speedskater Shani Davis.

Which probably explains why most African American viewers preferred to watch American Idol and NCIS: Los Angeles to the games.

I mean, when there's no flavor in the melting pot, the Winter Games can definitely be an acquired taste.


Changing times

So it must be a sign of the ever-changing times - and, in Philadelphia, a huge credit to the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation (ESYHF) - that kids of every color are choosing hockey as a cool thing to do.
Last weekend, a diverse mix of skate-clad teens bolted onto the ice at the Laura Sims Skate House in West Philadelphia for their medal round.

And these teams more accurately reflected the world - black, white, Asian, Latino, boys and girls. Kids of all ages who, without the programs and resources provided by ESYHF, could well have been the ones passing up the Olympics in favor of American Idol.

Instead, "we had kids show up early to watch the hockey games," says Jan Koziara, ESYHF's director of operations, who also coaches the Scanlon team in Kensington.

Adds Jim Britt, ESYHF's vice president: "They're transferring what they see on TV to what they're doing on the ice."

But at the same time, there's no pressure. The only expectation is to have fun.

"They're just into hockey," Britt says. "Everything's hockey. They play it, they watch it. Instead of playing basketball, they want a stick in their hands."


Ed Snider's mission

For the last four years - ever since Flyers chairman Ed Snider introduced underserved children to hockey - the foundation has supplied skates, equipment, ice time, and instruction to more than 2,000 kids in the Philadelphia region.
Heck, ice time alone can cost up to $3,000 a year for a single skater, says Britt. And that's not counting skates, sticks and protective gear.

Way too expensive for Kashiem's family.

"My dad said he couldn't afford [hockey]," he said.

For some reason, Kashiem always gravitated to sports that weren't as popular to African Americans. He played soccer and baseball and was interested in hockey, too.

Yet, despite his curiosity, he never even realized he lived right around the corner from Laura Sims Skate House - that's how off his radar skating was.

So when he finally went ice-skating with his cousin and found out about ESYHF, "I signed up right away."

Since then, he has traveled to Canada and Boston and hung out with Flyers stars Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, who both donate equipment to the program.

A high school junior, Kashiem also captains his hockey team at Boys' Latin of Philadelphia Charter School. He plans to apply to cold-weather universities like Syracuse or Boston University, so he can continue to play, even if it's only intramurals.

Kashiem is an example of how the program works, Britt says.

"We look to use hockey as a hook to bring other things into their lives so they can grow up and become responsible citizens," he says. "And if we develop responsible hockey players - that's the whipped cream on the ice cream."

Tuesday, March 02, 2010