For Noel Acton, hockey becoming part of his foundation, the Tender Bridge, was completely by accident.
"I ended up taking some kids to hockey," said Acton, founder of the organization that has been guiding at-risk youth in Baltimore, Maryland, on the path to become productive citizens since 2002. "A friend of mine had four kids, I went with him to help do equipment, and there were eight kids that wanted to watch, and those kids said, 'Can we play?'
"So, I said, 'Sure, I'll pick you up,' and every week after that, ever since for the last 20 years, we've been playing hockey."
For helping thousands of at-risk youth get off the streets and involved in sports in Baltimore, Acton is the winner of the fifth annual Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award presented by MassMutual.
The award is given to an individual who, through hockey, has positively impacted his or her community culture or society. The award honors Willie O'Ree, the former NHL forward who became the first Black player to play in the NHL on Jan. 18, 1958, and has spent more than two decades as the NHL's diversity ambassador. O'Ree was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018.
Acton will receive a $25,000 prize while fellow finalists Meredith Lang of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Ryan Francis of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, will receive $5,000. Each prize will be donated to a charity of their respective choice.
The Baltimore Banners, the hockey team managed by The Tender Bridge is made up of players aged 12-20 and was started in 2011. In February, the team played its third annual Bridge the Gap game, which pits the Banners against the Baltimore Sentinels, a squad of Baltimore first responders (police, firefighters, emergency medical technicians and several members of the military). On May 14, the Banners had their first all-star game, featuring players from the Banners and Tucker Road Ducks, a program designed for girls and boys ages 4-18, vs. players from the Maryland Hero Hockey League, the only public safety hockey league in the Maryland/Washington D.C. region.
Acton's work has meant much to many including Antoine Greene Sr., who's worked with Acton and his foundation for the past 14 years.
"My two nephews who had just lost my sister and her husband a year apart, they were in the program. I have two sons who are their age, so they would come up to my house, told me about the program and said, 'Come on, bring them down," said Green, one of Tender Bridge's lead mentors. "I thought, 'Hockey? Really? We're a baseball family.' So I said, OK, took them down and man, my kids and me fell in love with hockey.
"Honestly, it's unbelievable to see how this man goes through the roughest parts of Baltimore City. When Noel comes through, every kid knows him and is saying, 'Are we going to play hockey?' It's sailing, it's mountain biking, it's all of the stuff we do."
