It’s a recent frigid night in Central Park, the wind is biting and the temperature is flirting with the freezing point.
On the northern end of the park, more than 20 kids, some as young as 9, are practicing drills at the Lasker rink.
Several parents who have decided to brave the cold are treated to a hockey soundtrack: the thwack of pucks hitting sticks; the swoosh of ice flying from sharp blades as the more experienced skaters stop on a dime; coaches barking orders, occasionally drowning out the ’80s’ and ’90s power ballads blaring in the background.
On the far end of the rink a slender boy with long, curly hair, decked in full goalie gear, is skating from side to side in front of the net.
Wesley Dominguez is 12 years old and a five-year veteran of Ice Hockey in Harlem. Launched in 1987, the nonprofit organization offers kids like Wesley an opportunity to learn the basics of the sport, which in his neighborhood is still considered by many an exotic activity.
Dominguez’s parents are Dominican, yet rather than gravitate towards baseball or basketball as many of his friends have done, he decided take up skating. He started going to the rink at Riverbank Park when he was in the third grade.
One thing led to another and soon he was learning the techniques of good goaltending, playing the angles and showing no fear as pucks whizzed by his facemask.
“It was different and it was exciting,” says Dominguez, recalling those first few weeks with Ice Hockey in Harlem.
“I like it because it gives kids an opportunity to try something different. It gives them a chance to try and find something that’s good for them.”
More than 200 boys and girls are currently enrolled in the program and roughly two-thirds of them are African-American or Latino.
The children, ages 6 to 17, spend at least one-and-a-half hours on the ice each week, but according to executive director John Sanful, Ice Hockey in Harlem is more than just drills and games.
“Students are also expected to take part in our after-school enrichment programs,” says Sanful. “The kids learn about the history and the rules of the sport, what’s the Stanley Cup, and also methods that help to improve math and reading.”
All the students that participate in the program must live in Harlem, although the definition of the neighborhood is flexible enough to include areas like Morningside Heights, Manhattan Valley and Washington Heights.
Parents don’t have to worry about paying for equipment, rink time or instruction, all of that is provided free of cost by Ice Hockey in Harlem.
Sanful, 45, lived in Harlem until he was 9. He then moved with his family to Brooklyn where he fell in love with hockey. He and his friends were so passionate about the sport, they would trek all over the city looking for places to play, not an easy endeavor in New York.
Yet despite his love for the game, he says he felt a certain disconnect when he watched NHL games on TV.
“Hockey was my favorite sport but I was also struck by how few players looked like me,” says Sanful.
“As much as I loved it, I wanted to see players out there that were black or Latino. When you did see a NHL player that was black you always followed him on the ice.”
Sanful believes that despite modest progress – there are roughly two dozen African-American players in the NHL and Latino players can be counted on one hand – many of the kids participating in Hockey in Harlem can look past the lack of diversity in the pro ranks, and focus instead on the grace and beauty of the sport.
That is what hooked Dominguez, soon after he put on his first pair of ice skates not too far from the Hudson River.
“It feels good to be on the ice, it feels exciting, especially when you try it for the first time. It feels like you’re free.”