The Sports Color Barrier by Brendan

The Sports Color Barrier by Brendan - February 2016 Scholarship Essay

In today’s world of sports, if you can play you get the opportunity to play. The professional athletes we see on TV screens and in the grandest of arenas and parks are judged based on their talent and commitment to the team. Long forgotten are the days when race restricted an athlete from going to the pros. Too often overlooked are the pioneers who changed professional sports. Therefore, in order to honor his legacy, I would love the opportunity to have dinner with Willie O’Ree.
Willie O’Ree is an African American hockey player best known for being the first African American to play in the NHL when he debuted with the Boston Bruins in 1958. Much like Jackie Robinson did for baseball, O’Ree changed the world of hockey forever by opening the doors for all to play. I chose to have dinner with O’Ree because I do not want his legacy to be left behind. Currently, the sports world is full of players of different races and backgrounds. It is very easy to think that a person of color playing in 1958 is similar to a person of color playing now. However, what many people do not understand, including myself, is the kind of adversity that O’Ree must have faced.
I believe that some of the greatest lessons of life can be learned in the sports arena through teamwork, commitment, and comradery. While at dinner with O’Ree I would take the opportunity to ask him what lessons he learned from sports and how it shaped him as a person. O’Ree is unique because he experienced all of the adversity that comes with being a part of a team as well as adversity from being the first African American. I truly believe that having dinner with Willie O’Ree will allow me to learn more about perseverance which applies not only to hockey, but to life.