By Bobby R. Henry, Sr.
Anthony Duclair Foundation held a groundbreaking event celebrating the coming of a synthetic hockey rink at Boyd Anderson High School.
Duclair, though no longer a Florida Panthers player, maintains strong ties to the community, exemplified by his hosting of a week-long youth hockey camp at the Panthers Ice Den in Coral Springs for the second consecutive year. Additionally, the Anthony Duclair Foundation, in collaboration with various entities including the NHL and NHLPA, recently broke ground on a new synthetic ice surface at Anderson High School in Lauderdale Lakes.
How did all of this come to be?
“In Yiddish, there’s a word called “beshert.” Translated to English, it means, “meant to be,” Evan Goldman began.
That’s the story of the partnership between the Anthony Duclair Foundation /Jewish Federation of Broward County’s Alcee L. Hastings Broward Black-Jewish Alliance/Boyd Anderson High School.
Evan continues, “In February 28, I sent an email to Anthony Duclair, who then played for the Florida Panthers and told him about my son Max, age 9, a voracious hockey player who also happens to be Black.
“I also let Anthony know that I worked in non-profits for 30 years and wanted to so something to help his foundation grow the game of hockey.”
In response, Anthony’s manager Jason Gersonovich called Evan . Jason at the time was the same age as Anthony, 27, also from Montreal, and Jewish.
During their conversation Anthony shared with Evan that Jason, his best friend’s father, chaired the Jewish Federation in Montreal. “That’s when I knew this was “meant to be,” said Evan.
When Jason shared Anthony’s vision to build a state of the art synthetic hockey rink, Evan knew there was only one partner, James F. Griffin, III, Principal at Boyd Anderson High School.
Boyd Anderson has an expansive Caribbean population that resonated with Anthony, whose parents immigrated from Haiti to Canada.
Mr. Griffin knows the power of diversity and has championed the Black-Jewish relationship in Broward.
With the help of the NHL and NHLPA, the dream is coming to fruition. It is a testament to breaking down barriers in sports, fostering inclusivity, and uplifting the community.
With this model it can be replicated at high schools across the US and Canada, so look out for the next generation of BIPOC hockey players.
“Who would’ve thought that Boyd Anderson would be the first school in Broward County to provide these experiences to the community,” said Principal James Griffin. “Today I say this is about dreaming big and dreaming bigger.”
The mission of The Anthony Duclair Foundation is to grow the game by ensuring that minority and underserved communities are granted safe and equal access to playing hockey in North America, with funding from the NHL and NHLPA’s Industry Growth Fund and support from the Florida Panthers Foundation. “That was great, I didn’t expect Billy (Zito) to come by so I definitely appreciate that,” Duclair said. “It just speaks volumes to what type of men they are. They treated me like gold during my time here, so for them to come by – Mr. Viola (Panthers owner Vinny Viola) donated a lot of money last year which I’m extremely grateful for, money that’s going toward this (project) – for them to come by, and I know they have a busy schedule too, so it’s great. I appreciate that, for sure.”
Despite his current affiliation with the San Jose Sharks, Duclair remains committed to his pledge of enhancing hockey inclusivity and fostering growth in South Florida, a region he considers a second home.
“I can’t wait until it gets built,” Anthony said. “As soon as I’m back here it’s going to be one of my first stops because I want to try it out myself and try it with the kids.”
The students really expressed themselves vocally when Anthony spoke of his Haitian descent. Boyd Anderson High has a 98 percent minority enrollment, and a large portion are Haitian.
“This is great”, said Boka (Bokondji) who has been playing hockey since he was four years old. “Being of African heritage. one would think that I would have played soccer, but I like thinking outside of the box.”
Duclair, who was joined by his good friend Bokondji Imama who have been friends and played hockey in Montreal, Canada together.
Duclair and Imama, a forward playing for the Ottawa Senators’ American Hockey League, held youth development camps in Florida and Montreal last summer.
“I love hearing those cheers, and that’s why we came here,” Duclair said. “This is a big Haitian community in South Florida, and I am just happy to be here and am blessed. This is a dream come true. I did not think this would be possible. You make it to the NHL and [to] be able to give back by doing something like this is great. I am super proud of my [foundation] team who worked so hard the past few months to make this possible while I was busy with my season. This is a great event and a great day.’’
By introducing the students at Boyd Anderson and others to the game of hockey and what it represents will help continue to expand the game all over.
“This is a perfect spot with all the ethnicities and different backgrounds,” Duclair said. “It is personal to me since there is such a big Haitian presence.”
“This really is huge,” said Peter Worrell, a former Panthers player and current Hockey Director for the Ice Den in Coral Springs. “Just having the opportunity to bring the game to people that haven’t been involved with it before, so they have the opportunity to learn all the great points you can get from it. All the love you can get from it, the fun you can get from it and the fitness you can get from it.”
When asked what this means to him Duclair responded, “It’s like a dream come true,”. “I didn’t know it was possible. I knew I was going to be involved in the community because that’s just how I was raised. My dad and my mom always told me to give back and think about others before you think of yourself. That’s just how my little brother and I grew up, but I didn’t think this was ever a possibility to be honest. I’m just happy that it all came to fruition.”
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