Neal Henderson, a former hockey player who had recently moved to the area, was eager to teach his son the game, and pretty soon he had a group of kids coming to play at the Fort Dupont Ice Arena in Southeast Washington.
Today, nearly four decades later, the Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club remains almost entirely African American, a rarity in a sport historically dominated by white players. It’s the oldest of 36 clubs in a National Hockey League program aimed at promoting the sport in urban neighborhoods.
It’s “our little-known secret down in Southeast D.C.,” said alumnus Clyde Thomas, who coaches the Fort Dupont-based Maryland Student Hockey League D.C. Stars high school team. “When you talk about programs for minorities to play sports, ice hockey really isn’t the first thing you think of.
