Color of Hockey: Team IMPACT connects kids with disabilities to college game

William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog since 2012. Douglas joined NHL.com in 2019 and writes about people of color in the sport. Today, as part of NHL.com's celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, he profiles Adrian Diaz, a 9-year-old who’s a member of the University of Massachusetts’ NCAA Division I men’s hockey team through Team IMPACT.

Adrian Diaz has a reputation for yelling at teammates on the University of Massachusetts men’s hockey team, and they love him for it.

“Sometimes I like to go to the gym and get them in shape,” Adrian said. “I’m a good motivator. I’m, like, really positive. I’ll go, ‘Let’s go!’ Give them a little hype.”

The 9-year-old Ludlow, Massachusetts, native is in his third season with the NCAA Division I men’s team through Team IMPACT, a nonprofit organization that has connected children with disabilities or serious illnesses with collegiate athletic teams since 2011.

Adrian has Type 2 spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic disease that affects the central nervous system, peripheral nervous system, and voluntary muscle movement.

But being in a wheelchair, undergoing multiple surgeries and treatments and even breaking his leg last season hasn’t kept him from attending UMass games, practices or team meals since he signed with them on Feb. 20, 2023.

“Sometimes you just have to look at the good things in life,” Adrian said.

The UMass players and coaches marvel at Adrian’s perpetually upbeat personality and seemingly boundless energy he displays at practices or when he’s announcing the starting lineup in the locker room before games.

“It gives us all pretty quick perspective when he rolls into the room and he’s got nothing but smiles and positive energy,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said. “We talk to our guys all the time about positive attitude, and nobody has a better positive attitude than Adrian.”

Adrian’s parents, Jose and Cassie Diaz, initially worried their son might be a little too energetic for the role with UMass.

“I warned them, ‘Just so you know, he’s not shy,’” Cassie Diaz said. “The first time they were, like, ‘Come to a practice,’ and he literally rolled into the gym and started screaming at them. I’m the quietest person, and I was ready to crawl under a rock.”

The team loved it.

“I remember one day we were on the fan bike, and he comes in and he gets right in front of us and he’s yelling, cheering us UMass captain Linden Alger said. “It gave us the juice we needed to finish the workout.”

Lucas Mercuri, a senior defenseman and alternate captain, said Adrian has become a vital part of the team.

“Game days he’ll come in, ‘Carve’ will have him read the starting lineup sometimes, he’ll come in, say our names and he’ll get all the boys juiced, get us going,” Mercuri said. “We always make sure to try our best to pull off a win when he’s in the building. He’s awesome to have around.”

Adrian is among the more than 3,000 children who have been matched with more than 750 colleges and university since Team IMPACT’s founding. The children have touched the lives of more than 75,000 student-athletes across various sports, Team Impact officials said.

UMass was the perfect match for Adrian, who has a hockey pedigree from his mother’s side of the family and Hispanic heritage from his father, who is from the Dominican Republic.

Adrian’s maternal grandfather is Scott Daniels, a forward who played for the Hartford Whalers, Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils from 1992-99 and had 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists) in 149 NHL games.

His aunt, Sydney Daniels, was a forward for Harvard from 2013-17, was captain in her senior season, and had 86 points (59 goals, 27 assists) in 126 NCAA games.

She went on to play seven games for Boston of the National Women’s Hockey League in 2017-18, was a Harvard women's assistant coach from 2018-22, and a college scout for the Winnipeg Jets from 2022-24.

Father and daughter, who are Cree First Nation, operate Daniels Hockey, which runs camps and clinics that help support Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan and other parts of Canada.

“About two years ago, Adrian started playing sled hockey,” Scott Daniels said. “He was adamant, ‘Papa, I want to go to the Daniels hockey camp, I am part of it.’ He made the trip up, had a fantastic time. He absolutely loves hockey.

“Being around hockey people, being around the rink, that’s kind of where he feels part of a team.”

When Daniels told fellow members of the Philadelphia Flyers Alumni Association about Adrian, they decided to present him with an adaptive bicycle through the “Every Child Deserves a Bike” program it started in 2020.

The alumni association’s program is partnered with Help Hope Live, a medical fundraising organization that selects who receives specialized bikes for children with physical and/or neurological challenges that can cost up to $7,500.

“We went through the process, and we got a bike for Adrian because he’s such a dynamic little fella,” Flyers Alumni president Brad Marsh said. “He was having a little fundraising walk, so I put the bike in my car and presented it to him” on Oct. 17, 2021.

Adrian calls the gift “awesome.”

“I use it all the time,” he said. “I’m very lucky.”

And Adrian is lucky to be part of UMass hockey, Cassie Diaz said.

“Being disabled, it can seem very isolating because no one really understands what you’re going through,” she said. “By having this friendship and relationship with UMass, it’s like built-in best friends. I really think we hit the jackpot with UMass.”