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Early on a Wednesday morning during the bleak Minnesota winter, stick-wielding children of various ethnicities gather at center ice in a south Minneapolis hockey arena; they await their coach's instructions before an hour-long practice.

Before the pucks drop to the ice, however, another tradition begins. The players and their coach drop to one knee and invite God to join them. They pray for protection, for good sportsmanship, and for healing of an injured or sick player. A chorus of amens reverberates in the chilled air, and hockey drills begin.

Such invocations are an anomaly in a sport known more for fistfights than divine petitions—about as common as ethnic minorities skating in the traditionally white sport. The racial diversity and prayer of these teams, however, grew naturally out of the concern of John Foley, then a youth pastor, to motivate inner-city kids to improve their grades and future prospects.

To play in the DinoMights "Hockey in the 'Hood" youth development program, students must meet minimum grade standards and attendance quotas. Some 60 players, ages 7 to 15, play on four different teams—two for boys, one for girls, and one for both.

"I just wanted to do something a little different," says Foley, who directs the DinoMights program. "As weird as hockey in the 'hood sounded, I knew the younger kids would get fired up and feel they were part of something special."

The DinoMights are attempting to break the "ice ceiling" of an international sport identified as a white game. One-quarter of the DinoMights are white, half are African-American, and the remainder are Latino, Asian, or Native American.

This contrasts sharply with the Twin Cities Youth Hockey District, in which nearly nine-tenths of the registered players are white. Only 20 minority players have skated professionally in the 81-year history of the National Hockey League (NHL), partly because of the sport's northern origins and hefty costs.

Foley had not set out to be a pioneer in racial harmony. He was youth pastor at Park Avenue Methodist Church in south Minneapolis in 1993 when he became concerned with increased dropout rates in his youth group. Having recently heard a "bloom where God has planted you" message at a Christian urban-development conference, Foley waited and prayed. A vision began to germinate, and skates were central to the concept.

By the next winter, the first DinoMights went to the ice, and in 1996 the DinoMights won their first championship in a Minneapolis Park & Recreation League tournament.

Hockey is only one facet of the DinoMights' program. Foley and the DinoMights' board of directors envisioned a ministry that would extend far beyond the rink to assist children in every dimension of their lives. The DinoMights' mission statement promotes "equipping of urban youth to develop physical, academic, social, and spiritual excellence."

Foley and the DinoMights chose the team's Bible verse—"To press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:14)—to encourage excellence in every arena of life.

Foley and 40 volunteers—most of them from Park Avenue Methodist and other churches—coach the teams, tutor players in an after-school program, and drive kids to camps and tournaments. Team members receive emotional and spiritual nurturing from mature Christians. The program also offers career mentoring and computer instruction, as well as a series of incentives for academic excellence and community service.

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November 13 2000, Vol. 44, No. 13