"A lot of kids I skated with had parents who were working double shifts just to get by at home," said Coleman. "The parents didn't want their kids to end up on the streets. A lot of kids at the rinks didn't think they had a chance (to play hockey).We were teased because we were playing with kids who had a lot of money and we didn't. But (the Diversity program) helped us get through that.
"We were there for a few hours a day and it gave parents time to finish work and us a chance to meet kids who wanted to become something other than a typical basketball or football player."
The Diversity Program, founded in 1995 by the NHL and USA Hockey, provides financial support to 34 non-profit hockey organizations throughout the United States and Canada that give economically disadvantaged youngsters a chance to learn and play hockey.
Coleman got his chance through an organization called PUCKS: Positive Upliftment for Chicago's Kids.
"I just played in a little house league because hockey is one of the more expensive sports," recalled Coleman, who was Tampa Bay's seventh-round pick in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. "We were playing in a game just out of town. My dad (Clinton) was talking to a guy about hockey and the Diversity program. The guy saw I was one of the black kids and asked me if I wanted to come out because they needed a goalie.
"(The Diversity program) gave us money to get on the ice and they gave the Illinois program money to buy equipment for the kids. That was when I was 13."
Before and after were like different universes.
"My mom told me when I was 10 that I wasn't going to play hockey past 13 so why even try," said Coleman. "She said I was going to end up playing basketball because I was so tall (he's 6-4, 190) and I would quit.
"When somebody tells me I can't so something I want to do it even more."
As if Coleman needed more incentive, he received exactly that a few years later.
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