Cameron Smith’s Website on Willie O’Ree Wins First Place

Willie O’Ree was a trailblazer as the first Black player in the National Hockey League. Regarded as the “Jackie Robinson of ice hockey,” the former Boston Bruins star and member of the Hockey Hall of Fame was the subject of Huntington High School freshman Cameron Smith’s first place award winning website in this year’s National History Day contest.

“I watched my sister Haileigh participate in National History Day for the last three years and so the idea that it was my turn to participate, felt a little daunting,” Ms. Smith said. “I remember her saying, ‘Just pick a topic that interests you or connects to you.’ Almost immediately I knew I wanted to do a project that was sports related. It was my father who suggested that I explore the story of Willie O’Ree, a Black Canadian hockey player who broke the color barrier of the National Hockey League.”

The teenager is a great athlete in her own right. She played on the Blue Devil varsity soccer and lacrosse teams as an eighth grader and has continued to excel as a freshman.

“With me being  biracial and a dual citizen of Canada and the US, my father’s suggestion seemed to fit the criteria I was looking for,” Ms. Smith said. “Not to mention, hockey is a huge part of our family life, with my father having played on a minor league team in Canada, before coming to the states to play in college and now having my brother Zack play AAA for the Junior Islanders. As you can imagine, we watch a lot of hockey. Almost instantaneously, I started wondering why I hadn’t seen more players who look like them, playing the sport of hockey. Thus the idea for the project was born.”

The project took many weeks and dozens of hours to compile. After winning first place last week in the local contest, Ms. Smith is now refining the work in preparation for the Long Island regional finals at Hofstra next month.

“There were two surprising takeaways from this project, one being the long term effects of systemic racism, the other an invaluable lesson about personal responsibility,” Ms. Smith said. “Willie O’Ree’s story begins with a story about culture. Like most Canadians, hockey was a way of life. But when the Canadian government stopped funding hockey programs that supported lower income communities, Black players dropped out of the sport. People simply could not afford to play. The effect of this decision can be measured by the public  response to Willie O’Ree breaking the color barrier in the NHL. Unlike Jackie Robison who had signed with Major League Baseball just a few years before under heavy criticism and racial attacks, for Willie, there wasn’t the same attention paid to his signing. You see, for the NHL, there wasn’t a league of Black players waiting in the wings to play, most had dropped out or never played because the sport was too expensive. Therefore, Willie would be the outlier and unlike the MLB white players, the NHL players didn’t fear being replaced.”

Ms. Smith said the second takeaway from her research on the Willie O’Ree story involves a lesson in personal responsibility.

“Willie O’Ree’s life teaches us that limitations are only successful, if you allow limits to be imposed on you,” Ms. Smith said. “We all have a personal responsibility to meet our life’s dream and if you want something bad enough, then you do what it takes to achieve your dream. Most people know that Willie O’Ree broke the color barrier, but what most people don’t know was that he was blinded in his right eye during one of his games. This injury should have ended his career, but Willie wasn’t ready to give up. He learned to play on the other side of the ice, relearning how to pass, receive, and shoot the puck differently. This personal commitment to seeing his life’s dream be achieved is a takeaway that is immeasurable.  Everyone, whether you are Black, white, male, female, able bodied or handicapped, have a responsibility to one’s self to help make your dreams come true.  If you want it bad enough, you will make it happen, and if you are good enough, they will find you!”

Ms. Smith was all smiles when it was announced she had captured first place in the Individual Website category of this year’s National History Day contest at Huntington High School.

“Willie O’Ree’s real legacy is the message that limitations are only boundaries you are willing to accept,” Ms. Smith said. “His life’s lesson illustrates the importance of never accepting limitations on your dreams.”