Diversity profile -- Ice Hockey in Harlem

The program began in 1987 in an unused public school building in the Harlem section of New York City.

It started out with 40 participants ranging in ages nine to 12 years of age.

The eager participants were taught math, reading, and geography.

However, the cities they studied about, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto and Montreal all had one thing in common -- they had hockey teams.

This was the beginning of Ice Hockey in Harlem.

The students not only agreed to attend weekly classroom sessions, but also skated one night a week at a rink near Central Park.

One can only imagine how these youngsters looked in their skates and mismatched hockey jerseys.

Enter into the picture former New York Ranger Pat Hickey, who along with IHIH founder, Dave Wilk, and other volunteers, taught the youngsters the A-to-Z's of ice hockey.

Soon the kids, who were all boys at that time, were skating, shooting and passing as though they had been playing hockey all their lives.

In 1992, enrollment increased to 125 youngsters, as young girls were now admitted into the program. Ice time also had increased to four nights a week.

The youngsters' skating and hockey skills had improved so much that 50 of them were chosen to attend hockey schools in the United States and Canada. Two other students attended prep school on a IHIH hockey scholarship.

How was all this possible in five short years? Dave Wilk had a little help from his friends -- the New York Rangers, who generously supported the idea of bringing hockey to inner city children.

The first annual "Benefit on the Green" fund raiser was held at the Winged Foot Country Club in Westchester County, New York.

It attracted not only a lot of corporate sponsors, but many former and current NHL players as well.

The first event raised $100,000 and the benefit is still held every year in June, right after hockey season is over.

Ice Hockey in Harlem is now 15 years and going strong. The goal of the program is still the same -- using the sport of ice hockey to promote academic achievement, responsibility, and teamwork.