By Brianna Rhone, 08/08/24, 2:45PM MDT
Nearly 50 campers converged in North Carolina for summer camp; Carolina Hurricane’s Jalen Chatfield surpises campers
Invisalign Arena in Morrisville, N.C., has welcomed plenty of smiling faces through its doors over the years.
Recently, the Carolina Amateur Hockey Association teamed up with the Carolina Hurricanes and Hockey Players of Color to welcome nearly 50 athletes from the U.S. and Canada to Invisalign Arena for the second annual HPOC Movement Summer Camp.
The three-day camp at the Hurricanes practice facility treated athletes to an immersive experience, filled with off-ice instruction, goaltender training, on-ice skills development and more. Sitting side-by-side with their peers, the athletes learned about the different pathways a player can take to achieve their ultimate goals.
Kenny Gillespie, head coach of the 16U AAA Jr. Hurricanes, spoke candidly with the players, retelling stories from his own playing career and his path to coaching in his home state of North Carolina.
Finding yourself behind the bench after your playing career is over for many is a blessing in disguise. Jazmine Miley, the founder of HPOC, can relate well, finding a new rejuvenation for the game in the work she does as a mentor, coach, and leader with the HPOC organization.
Inspired by her own experiences playing the game, Miley founded the HPOC organization with the intention of helping young hockey players of color find community across the country. Boasting of over 300 members, HPOC was birthed from the determination to make the game welcoming and safe for everyone.
“I really wanted to focus on having a community where kids don’t feel alone,” Miley recounted. “How can we create something where we can all get together? That’s how HPOC came about.”
The camp is invaluable to the athletes that step onto the ice, giving them a chance to exchange stories and build connections, swapping phone numbers to keep in touch in hopes of meeting again on the ice in the future.
“It’s super important to have this [HPOC summer camp], especially being for them to not to feel like the minority, but the majority,” said Miley. “It’s overall super important and it has such a huge advantage for the young kids when it comes to them growing, they create lifelong buddies.”
Camp attendees recognized a familiar face in Hurricanes defenseman Jalen Chatfield, who made his second appearance at the camp. Chatfield gave his undivided attention to the campers for hours, something they won’t soon forget.
Brad Hoffman, a former CAHA board member and chair of the association’s diversity and inclusion board, knows how important it is for the campers to have a role model playing at the game’s highest level.
“It’s an incredibly positive thing. Not just for a hockey career, but just in terms of possibilities,” Hoffman said. “If you see someone that looks like you, and that they’re doing something that you’d like to continue in at an older age, then it shows them that the sky’s the limit.”
CAHA’s COMMITMENT TO GROWTH
Since 2019, CAHA has made an intentional effort to aspire growth in North and South Carolina, adopting a strategic plan aimed at increasing the retention of players across all ages and demographics within the region. A core strategy of CAHA’s plan is championing “Hockey is for Everyone” and standing at the forefront of their peers for diversity and inclusion.
CAHA worked closely with USA Hockey to organize the HPOC camp, receiving support to help ease some of the financial burden of the jam-packed weekend.
The HPOC Summer Camp was a great opportunity for CAHA to showcase how they are putting their plan into action. CAHA hopes to motivate other districts and affiliates to celebrate growing the sport in underserved communities.
“This is an event that can plant seeds through coming to the event and participating and going back home and trying to do something in their community,” Hoffman said. “Having all these programs throughout the Carolinas, getting them exposed to this and involved to the point where they go, ‘This is important.’”
