Exclusion, Hockey & Chasing Dreams w/ Derrell Levy

Growing up in Canada, you just know that Saturday nights are reserved for Ron McLean and ‘Hockey Night in Canada’. The puck drops, the adrenaline rushes and the superstars come to life. Of course your blood pressure also rises and falls with each pass, shot and goal. Behind all the glory and lights are millions of stories of kids who want to grow up to play on the same ice as icons like Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky. Derrell Levy was no different. But there was, ultimately, something different.

Passion

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Derrell’s path to hockey came through his father. He started off in football and track. He was a Nike player of the year in Ontario. A natural athlete, he received a number of awards including a full ride at Kansas state. Levy recounts his father’s story after coming to Canada and like many of us falling in love with the game of hockey. “His first tryout, he had chin pads on and all the equipment but he didn’t know he needed hockey pants so he had on a pair of cut jeans. He loved it and took it as far as he could.”

Levy explains that hockey wasn’t his natural love. After his father put him into hockey, it took some time to adjust to the new settings. “I was more inspired by other sports, but my dad loved the game and I wanted to spend time with my dad so I played. Eventually his passion became my passion and I got obsessed.” Levy played AAA hockey for the North York Rangers and Don Mills Flyers in the Greater Toronto Hockey League, the premier minor hockey league in Ontario for athletes hoping to get drafted into the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Unfortunately for Levy, a serious of illnesses in his draft year kept him off ice the second half of his season after coughing up blood.

“If you hate black people, then just hit me.”
Derrell Levy on a racist encounter with two men his first few days at school in the U.s

Different

Levy talks about being one, sometimes two of the only minority players on his teams. Through his father, Levy played quite a bit with a group of minority players that includes current Toronto Maple Leaf Wayne Simmonds and Levy notes this was a good thing for him to see kids who looked like him. “It let me know that there are other guys like me and it was an opportunity for us to be ourselves.”

By the time Levy attended school in the U.S., he realized how racially charged the environment was down south. “I jump into this shared taxi and these two guys in the back seat go hey man, are we racist? To which the other one goes, yea I hate black people. And I’m literally sitting in the car.” Levy explains that he chose to ignore it and as his evening ended and was returning back it was only fate that the same two guys got back into the car as well. After telling them they need to pay for their share of the ride, one remarked “I guess we have to pay since your people don’t have money.” Levy turned and said “if you hate black people then hit me.”

Before he knew it, cops arrived on scene and Levy found himself handcuffed and pressed up against the police cruiser. He yelled out “I just want to play hockey! I just want to play hockey!” The officer asked what happened and Levy explained he just started at the school playing hockey and was fortunate that the cop let him go. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the only incident as Levy recounted several other incidents similar to this.

“Okay, just go work out”
Derrell Levy on the response his father gave him when he wanted to quit and come home

Compete

“I competed really hard, some of the players didn’t like me for it. Minorities on campus didn’t like me because I played with these guys. I’m a lone soldier because I had a dream and ambition.” After finally caving to the weight on his shoulders, Levy calls his father. “He said something really simple. I was trying to tell him the issues and that I wanted to come home and he just replied, okay just go work out.” Levy did just that and says that was the turnaround moment for him. One day he finally got the opportunity to play and never looked back.

Levy performed and delivered and got an invite to an American Hockey League camp tryout for the affiliate team of the Anaheim Ducks. Unfortunately for Levy, as excited as he was, he was also dealing with a major hand injury. “I thought lets get the surgery to fix the problem and the day after the surgery Anaheim calls me to invite me to camp. My family was ecstatic and I go into my room and I just start crying. I didn’t know what to do. So I cut off my cast and went to camp.” Would he do it again? “I would. I didn’t tell anyone because the doctor who performed the surgery said it would be career ending. So when I did my team physical, I didn’t say anything and afterwards my hand would swell up to the point where my finger nails would pop off.”

Ultimately, the experience was short lived. After being called into the office Levy knew immediately his time was done. He worked to find a place to land and after landing with another team, he immediately became a difference maker. Despite the offensive output, the coach told him the team was going in a different direction. “It didn’t sit well with me and when I got home, I got a couple of calls from other teams but nothing came of it and I remember being on the track stretching and tears just came flowing out.”

Hockey Is Not for Everyone

“Hockey is definitely not inclusive. At the higher levels, the people that make the decisions, it’s a country club. Until they are out, it’s the same story over and over again.” When asked to elaborate, Levy did not hold back. “We’re all afraid. You’re afraid to talk out because you might not make it. It might be the reason you don’t become a coach or development coach. If you get all the players in a room to talk, we all have the same stories.” It’s a sad reflection of the culture of hockey today.

Asked to share some advice with younger hockey players coming up through the ranks, Levy remarks, “the game is still the same. Control what you can. Come ready to work and put your best forward. Be better than everyone else in the room.”

NextGen Canada

“When hockey was said and done, I got a job as an account manager at Dell for three days. I couldn’t do it, I have to love what I’m doing. I took the last bit of money I had and I rented space at a local gym for a month.” Levy started working with different athletes, some of whom wanted to improve their games, others who had career ending injuries and wanted to regain some strength and mobility.

Levy is building a new training facility that he calls a trainer’s dream. “I’m really excited about it. There’s a rink in here and a lot of recovery rooms.” Levy is also working with a group called NextGen Canada that works to foster inclusion for minority kids in the hockey world. “Part of my mandate every year is to give back. NextGen is doing great work in that regard. Surround yourself with good people, that’s what we’re doing with NextGen.”

Feature image by Maurice DT