According to the Players Tribune, Wayne Simmonds was discouraged by many growing up including his grade teacher about becoming a professional hockey player in the NHL. In African American culture majority of athletes play basketball, football, or track. It’s not often that someone ventures beyond their comfort zone to broaden their horizons and impact the culture. Simmonds is one of the few athletes who was exceptional and proved to be one of the best in the world at what he did.
He discussed that his family grew up poor and often every piece of equipment he used was used. It didn’t faze him, in fact, he begged his parents to sign him up for a house hockey team. He began skating at a young age at an outdoor rink at the mall in Toronto, Canada. He learned valuable lessons at the rink. Simmonds admits that his dad refused to pick him up to teach him, tough love, at an early age.
“The only rule was that I had to pick myself up when I fell,” Simmonds stated. “My dad would never help me up. That was his version of tough love.”
Where Does Wayne Simmonds’ Motivation Stem From?
It was safe to say that the renowned Black hockey player admires and treasures the sport at this point in his life. However, his third-grade teacher didn’t believe in his dreams very much and was very vocal about it. He was coming off leading the little league in scoring and felt really proud of who he was becoming in the sport of hockey.
Later, his class was asked to write a report on his ideal career or dream job. Naturally, he’d expressed his interest in joining the NHL. The majority of his classmates wrote about doctors, lawyers, and astronauts. However, the teacher brought the paper back to his desk in disbelief.
“Wayne, you can’t choose that. You have to be serious.”
The moral of the story, he refused to change and an altercation commenced between the teacher and Simmonds. As a result, she failed him for the assignment and she forced him to take that paper home to show to his parents. However, he expresses he was so locked in it didn’t even matter to him that she didn’t see the vision.
“I want to be a black hockey player.” he just thought, “I want to be Sergei Fedorov.”
The rest is history, whenever he needs motivation he relives this moment. Simmonds went on to play for the Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils, and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
