Home Team: All-Black hockey team competes in Minnesota's Summer Showdown
MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota's Summer Showdown is where youth hockey shines in the state, and it draws anyone trying to immerse themselves deeply in the game.
A U-18 hockey team has assembled players from all over the country with one thing in common, thanks to a pair of hockey moms from California who just wanted their sons to have this experience.
Every one of the U-18 Panthers, from across the country, is Black.
"Usually I can find my son on the rink right away. Today I was like, 'Wait, which one is he?' It went to that, seriously! I mean, it was a great feeling," mother April Scott said.
"I've been playing hockey since I was 9 years old. I'm 39 now, I've waited my entire life to be a part of something like this," coach Mike Weekley said. "Never in a million years did I think I would be the head coach of something so monumental."
Jayar Luedke graduated from Simley this week, and is competing with the Panthers in this weekend's Summer Showdown.
"I'm grateful for the opportunity and I'm thankful for it," Luedke said. "I'm looking forward to it, but I'm also kind of nervous for it. Like you said, people haven't really seen anything like it before. It's gonna be different."
Edina graduate and 2013 state champion Anthony Walsh can relate to that feeling.
"Minnesota is not the most diverse state. And growing up playing a sport like hockey, not the most diverse sport, was kind of complicated sometimes," Walsh said.
Being a minority in this sport means being an outlier.
"Just as an African American in this game, we're bred with this idea and this instinct that, if I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do this well. I'm gonna be fully committed, and I'm representing so much more," Weekley said.
To help ease that pressure, the Minnesota Wild showed them a little love, presenting them with a fully-appointed locker area.
The Panthers have played once already Friday and have two more games this weekend. If you're at the Richfield Ice Arena this weekend, you'll see them.
