A Third Place
Photo credit: Anthony Walsh
By his own admission, Anthony Walsh was content. He was living in Washington, D.C. and attending law school. He also had met his biological family. While he wasn’t playing hockey, it was still a sport he loved. But the murder of George Floyd and what happened in its aftermath changed something in Anthony. It made him realize that he wanted to be a part of the healing that needed to happen. So he moved back to Minneapolis, enrolled in law school, and took time to think deeply about what he could do to help bring about change. He turned to his own encyclopedia of experiences as a Black hockey player in an overwhelmingly white sport. That is how Anthony came to write Hockey Is For Everybody: Anthony's Goal.
Skate Away
Anthony grew up in Edina, Minnesota, with his parents, who are white, and his older brother. He started playing hockey when he was five years old. Thanks to natural athletic talent and a lot of hard work, Anthony excelled at it. But he was constantly reminded that he looked different from all of the kids he was playing with. He played other sports, but hockey was his priority. At one point, he was playing hockey 350 days out of the year. Anthony loved to read too, and it wasn’t uncommon for him to have his nose in a book, even before hockey games. He also liked to write and says it is interesting to go back and read short stories and poems he wrote when he was younger.
The coaches and players Anthony played for and with in Edina knew him and didn’t treat him differently because he is Black. Many of the friends he grew up playing with were on the 2013 Edina High School state hockey championship team, which made winning the title all the more special to see their years of hard work payoff. But players on opposing teams made racist comments trying to provoke Anthony into doing something that would hurt his team. There also were coaches whom Anthony did not know at hockey camps that said racist things. Anthony knew he was expected to skate away from the comments and not react. He learned to code switch in order to survive. Looking back now, he realizes how toxic and harmful the racism he experienced was. But he says the people who made the comments didn’t know him, and they didn’t know any better.
The Person He Needed
Photo credit: Anthony Walsh
After the murder of George Floyd, Anthony realized it was time for him to become the person he needed when he was growing up. His experience playing hockey, studying abroad while in college, interning for a U.S. Senator and meeting his biological parents all contributed to helping him develop a deeper level of self-understanding. Anthony believed that if healing could happen in Minneapolis, it could happen anywhere, and he wanted to be a part of it.
Anthony took time to think about how best to reach people and realized writing and storytelling were his path forward. He decided to write a story based on his own experience of being the only Black hockey player, which would be his first time ever speaking about it publicly. Anthony knew he was doing the right thing by how everything came together. The story came to him quickly. He found Strive Community Publishing, then Justine Allenette Ross, the amazing illustrator based in Detroit, Michigan, otherwise known as Hockey Town. Finally, Rico Phillips, a trailblazing Black hockey official and much more, agreed to write the Foreword. It all came together, because it was meant to be.
Hockey is for Everybody: Anthony’s Goal was published in July 2022. Hockey is for Everybody: Anthony Goes to Camp was published in January 2023 under Anthony’s own publishing imprint. Anthony also graduated from law school and started working as a community engagement specialist with Hennepin County. When he speaks, it is with the energy and clarity of someone who is right where he is supposed to be. He also has the language and a platform that he didn’t have when he was younger to raise awareness of the racism in hockey and the need for the sport to be more diverse.
Where That Change Begins
Anthony sees hockey rinks as a third place, which is a sociological term for places people spend time at between home (first place) and work (second place). Many of the people he played hockey with growing up felt like family. Hockey rinks are places where people get to know one another and build community. There is power in diversity, and if hockey is going to survive, it needs to embrace it. Hockey rinks are where that change begins.
Anthony is working to address concerns that hockey is too white and too expensive by sharing his own experience of playing and the true cost of hockey, which he argues is no more than the cost of a traveling basketball or dance team. Anthony is part of a growing community of people working to make hockey more accessible to BIPOC kids. That community includes the DinoMights, Mosaic Hockey Collective and BIPOC Play It Forward. Anthony believes teachers can be influential in convincing skeptical parents of the importance of sports for a well-rounded person.
Anthony uses his platform as an author to share a message about the importance of reading and that hockey really is for everybody by making appearances at schools, book stores and community events. He coaches hockey clinics for the New Directions North Minneapolis Hockey and Figure Skating Program, and he is excited that interest in hockey is growing in the community. But he knows there is a lot of work to do, because he has heard from the kids he coaches about the racism they face while playing.
Currently, 14% of BIPOC kids nine years old and younger are playing hockey. Anthony’s hope is that number will increase to at least 20% by 2035. Anthony understands that representation matters, so he will continue to make the case for hockey, believe hockey rinks are the place where change begins and work with others to bring more diversity to a sport they love.
Learn More
You can purchase Hockey is for Everybody: Anthony’s Goal and Anthony Goes to Camp, in-person or online at the Red Balloon Bookshop.
To help make hockey accessible to more BIPOC kids, please visit:
Upcoming Appearances
Sunday, November 12, 3 - 5 PM Edina City Hall
Anthony will be part of a panel for “Building an Inclusive Community - Learning to Prevent Bias So All Can Thrive” community conversation.
Sunday, November 19, 1 - 2 PM, book signing at Big Hill Books