Tennessee State University blazes trail in hockey as sport grows in Black communities
Xavier Abel believes in the vision Tennessee State University has for ice hockey, even if the school is without a coach and other players as it prepares for its first game this fall.
It's a pretty lofty one, as the school announced last June its intention to develop a program that would compete at the club level this fall, with the goal of becoming a Division I program for the 2025-2026 season.
For Abel, it's one small step onto the ice for the school, but a giant leap for a historically Black college university to add a sport not traditionally played in the Black community.
"I feel like Nashville is a growing hockey city, Abel said. "College hockey in the South is a growing hockey community in itself."
Hearing about the first ever HBCU hockey program coming to Nashville, a non-traditional hockey market in the South, former professional player Daniel Hickman is excited about possibilities.
"I think it can make a lot of other schools wake up," Hickman said. "The fact that there are schools that don't look like a hockey school that are now putting together a program ... it's pretty impressive."
Growing up in Chicago, Abel stood out on the ice and heard his share of heckling from fans and players. The sport he was playing did not align with typical young Black children.
That will change this fall as TSU fields the first ever ice hockey team at an HBCU school. It's the type of history Nashville is becoming accustomed to after Fisk University became the first HBCU to field a gymnastics team in 2023.
"Being in a place where I could be around other players that look like me and other players from other minority backgrounds that also may have had similar experiences as me, it's sentimental to me," Abel said.
Despite growing up in a diverse city, Abel didn't play against kids that looked like him. About 90% of NHL players, coaches and referees are white. Now he's an ambassador for a program that could fill out an entire rosters with persons of color.
The sport's history in the Black community dates back to 1895, when the Colored Hockey League was formed by descendants of Black people who fled north from slavery.
“The skill, creativity and athletic abilities of these players were unmatched and defied the belief that Black athletes were incapable of playing such a sport,” Damion Thomas, the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s curator of sports, says on the museum's website. “Their story is one of resilience and determination, mirroring that of their ancestors who migrated north to escape slavery. These athletes invested in a pastime that brought a sense of comradery and community to Black Canadians and immigrants in Canada.”
It's not lost on Abel that when the first puck drops on TSU's inaugural season this fall, there will be more flashbulbs going off, more fans in the crowd than one would see at a regular club hockey game.
And Abel, who previously attended Drury University where he was the only Black player, said he's already feeling more butterflies in his stomach than ever for a future club game.
Blazing a new trail for HBCUs
There's a electricity coursing through his veins knowing he is doing something historic. Something bigger than just another club hockey game.
Abel has a connection to TSU. His grandmother Rosetta, a teacher in Chicago, and TSU President Glenda Glover know each, giving them a chance to reconnect.
It was for Abel, who dreamed of growing the game in the Black community.
"I was very excited that, ... still active in my playing career, I could possibly be part of that," Abel said.
It means for former hockey player
When Hickman heard of TSU's plan to begin a hockey program, he said it was "magical" and will make a big impact on the sport.
Abel is a trailblazer like Hickman, who played on the only all-Black line in the Southern Professional Hockey League during the 2006-2007 season, garnering similar esteem many Black players have in playing professional hockey or breaking barriers.
He knows a lot about making history as someone who may not look like a traditional player in the sport.
Growing up in Connecticut, Hickman was asked if he played football or basketball. Never hockey.
Hickman took to the game as a youngster, watching a New York Rangers team that featured hockey greats like Brian Leach, Mark Messier and Eric Lindross.
As a player, Hickman was motivated to get to the professional level.
It was with the minor league Jacksonville Barracudas in the SPHL that Hickman made history.
On his forward line he was teamed with Khalil Thomas and Tyrone Garner, a three-man line comprised of all persons of color. It was only the second professional line to ever feature three Black players.
Thomas was part of the first line for the Flint Generals of the United Hockey League in the 1998-99 season with Nick Forbes and Jayson Payne.
But the Barracudas line wasn't just for show. The three meshed well with each other.
"We just had a good combination of specific skills," Hickman said. "That made us into a really good line, not just like, 'You guys go together so you can make history.'"
When he thinks about TSU putting together upwards of four forward lines of all Black players, Hickman said he gets chills.
What is means for hockey growth
Hickman said TSU's program will create more interest among Black athletes. Hockey's roots in Middle Tennessee are new compared to the sport's history when the NHL's Nashville Predators began playing in 1998.
The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture traces hockey in the Black community to the 19th century.
The museum said there were 30,000 formerly enslaved African Americans who sailed to Canada after fighting alongside British troops during the American Revolutionary War.
Hockey was an entry point for a better life for African Americans.
While their league folded in 1930, its legacy continued with Black athletes breaking the color barrier in various other sports. Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball in 1947.
In hockey, Willie O'Ree broke the National Hockey League color barrier in 1958 when he suited up for the Boston Bruins, an original six NHL franchise.
Getting a hockey program off the ground is challenging enough, but starting a program from scratch at an HBCU is an undertaking with no precedent.
At the helm is Nick Guerriero, director of hockey operations.
Guerriero grew up playing the sport in New York City and is leaning on prior experience as a graduate assistant at Manhattanville College, a Division III school, and in the Ivy League working closely in the communications department at Dartmouth.
Making TSU hockey successful
While the program remains in its infancy, Guerriero said his goal is to help the program grow and be sustainable.
"And that can be in any way," he said. "That could be financial sustainability, that can be performance sustainability. But I think dropping that first puck, the flashbulbs, the ambiance and the fans. With our fans, I think it's going to make us successful."
In 10 years, Guerriero's pipe dream is that TSU has a player drafted into the NHL.
Though Abel is a player on the team, he also sees himself as an ambassador and recruiter for the first HBCU hockey program.
"I hope to set an example, I hope that other kids see me as a inspiration to do the same, and also take a step forward to expand the culture and the sport within the (Black) community, because it's something that I've been wanting to be done for a while," Abel said.
When his playing days at TSU are over, Abel hopes to work as a coach or in management at the program that made his dream possible.
"I hope we inspire other HBCUs to start hockey teams, to expand the sport so the next generation of kids following that come from minority background don't get discouraged to play a sport they want to pursue," Abel said.
It won't be easy as TSU continues efforts to raise donations to get the program going. It can cost between $1.5 million and $2.5 million to field a hockey program at the Division I level.
It can be done, even in a non-traditional hockey market. Arizona State is among the most recent teams to jump to Division I hockey. And in the south, Alabama Huntsville once fielded a team. They now play club hockey.
And where the team will play, who the team will play and who will coach and play on the team with Abel remains uncertain.
"I hope that I can be a major key in reaching that goal of getting us to the NCAA collegiate level and establishing them as a well-rounded program," Abel said.
Reporter Mike Organ contributed to this story.
Reach reporter Craig Shoup by email at cshoup@gannett.com and on X @Craig_Shoup. To support his work, sign up for a digital subscription to www.tennessean.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee State paves way for hockey at HBCU in majority white sport
