INTRODUCING JACHELLE DIXON!
Jachelle Dixon is 15 years old and lives Wake Forest, North Carolina. She began ice skating around 5 or 6 years old. In Nov. 2017 she made NHL history as the first Afro Latina to be the Youth Opening Skate. In Feb. of 2018 she attended the Hockey is For Everyone Camp in Philadelphia and met hockey legend Willie O'Ree.
Hockey is the first time that I realized the impact of my skin color. It was also the first time that I stepped into the locker room and not only didn't see another female but didn't see another minority on my team. I want to be a HPOC Ambassador to inspire other young ladies of color to step into the locker room and take your place. I want to show that once that hockey uniform is put on that you become a player and no longer and individual but still need to shine your brightest once your blades hit the ice.
As an Ambassador I am looking to meeting, learning and being inspired by others and their journeys. I want my peers to know that I stand for something and will be a part of the forward progress in bring more people of color to hockey. Meeting Willie O'Ree really taught me that the fight sometimes takes time but once you engage in making a difference, generations to come will benefit from your hard work, dedication and sacrifice. I truly believe in the Hockey is For Everyone mantra.
A lot of people don't know my ethnicity (they automatically assume that I am African American) come to find out that I am Honduran, Barbadian, Black Foot and Cherokee Indian, and Japanese. I love my heritage and all the greatness my DNA has embedded within me. Its also shocking to people that I know where my parents and grandparents originate from.
If I could sit down with any female hockey player it would be Blake Bolden. I would sit with her because we have a common understanding within a sport that has not always embraced our talents. She can give me great advice and mentor-ship which I can use to encourage every female player I come across on and off the ice. Plus we both have shaken the hand of Hockey Legend Willie O'ree. I would like to know if she was just as nervous and star struck as I was.
The best advice was "skate your own skate and you will skate among-est the best of them." (My mom gave me that advice after my first time in the penalty box).
My dream for Women's Hockey is for us to be respected like the NHL and for our gender not to define where we play as we continue in this ongoing journey. I want young women to know that even in House League (which is mostly boys) you can be noticed and make it to the next levels of hockey ie. collegiate and professional.