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ALMORE JAMES LITERALLY FOUGHT FOR HIS PLACE IN HOCKEY , b u t t h e f i r st A f r i c a n A m e r i c a n e v e r t o p l a y i n t h e N a t i o n a l Ho c ke y L e a g u e b e l i e ve s that no young player should g o through what he did. Racism expressed in word and deed by opponents and spectators was commonplace during every step of his wild and unlikely journey, but James applauds USA Hockey's 2019 rule punishing racial slurs with a match penalty and a 30-day suspension. "I think it's long overdue, and it's long overdue in every scale of sports. ... The only sport that we really weren't putting our foot down on was hockey," says James, whose 14 NHL games were tucked into two of his 10 professional seasons. "This is the time to educate the people, to put together a diversity program for kids that have been scarred a little bit. And mark my words, people do get scarred. "Everybody is important. It's not just the people that are being [targeted], it's people on the sidelines not doing anything and wait- ing to see which way the ball is going to fall." Despite the brutality and shameful behav- i o r t h a t g r e et e d h i m o n a n d o f f t h e i c e , James doesn't elevate his discrimination above any other kind. " Ho p e f u l l y w e c a n d o e n o u g h f o r t h e young kids that they don't have to struggle with it and work it in their favor," he says. "If you're very strong and you have good support, you get through it. But no matter who you are, when you've got people propping you back up when you get down ... I was very for- tunate to have many teammates, they'd walk through fire with me to rectify the situation." Born in Ocala, Fla., on Feb. 14, 1957, James was a child when he accompanied his par- ents to Long Island, where his father farmed during the day and at night worked at Long Island Arena in Commack, N.Y. Rink access came with the job so 12-year- old Val learned to skate. His raw strength ironically threatened his safety until he mastered his edges. "I remember my very first fall. Thank God I had a helmet, I would have been dead," he recalls. "I tried to do the side thing. ... I was half knocked out, but I wasn't fully out. Everything was echoing." A fast learner, James practiced after hours and eventually caught up with his contem- poraries with the Suffolk Ducks of the Tier 3 Metropolitan League based in New York and New Jersey. U. S. H o c k e y H a l l o f Fa m e r L o u Va i r o coached the rival Brooklyn Stars. Before becoming household names in the sport, Vairo, Emile Francis and John Muckler were among many who gave their time to "Now if you look at the human race, you get all these colors ... once we start working together, it's phenomenal." —Val James APRIL/MAY 2020 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM // 47 K I N G D O W N T H E D O O R The Game's First African American Player Sees Promise For The Future By Mick Colageo