Coaching While Black
This occasional series will highlight Black coaches at all levels of sport. This week features St. Thomas Assistant Men’s Hockey Coach Leon Hayward.
Leon Hayward played in 132 college games at Northeastern (1998-2002), then played six pro seasons, led Trenton of the ECHL to the 2005 championship, and was named Finals MVP.
Naturally, coaching was next, right?
“If I am being really honest,” stressed Hayward, the veteran St. Thomas men’s assistant hockey coach, while sitting in his new office at Lee & Peggy Anderson Arena, “I was ready to be done, and I decided not [to play when] my former team that I played for wanted me to play again. They said, ‘OK, coach.’
“That sparked everything else from there, and that kind of took me on my coaching journey,” he recalled. Almost 20 years later, Hayward has been a UST assistant since 2021, as the Tommies made their successful leap from DIII to DI. “This is very unique, starting a program from scratch,” he said proudly.
The Seattle, WA native formerly was a Colorado College assistant for four seasons, and coached high school hockey in Connecticut and Massachusetts. According to the latest NCAA statistics, Hayward is the only Black assistant coach in college hockey in 2025.
Hayward said he attributes his coaching longevity to his ability to connect with players. “That’s a big emphasis for me,” he explained. “I think I’m demanding but also caring at the same time. I think you can really be both.
“So, I work really hard to do that and make sure that whether guys are at the top of our lineup or the bottom of our lineup, they get really the same attention.”
Hayward is keenly aware of his current “only one” status in college hockey today, but he’s optimistic that he soon will be joined by other coaches that look like him.
“I’m in a program with the NHL,” said Hayward of the NHL Coaches Association BIPOC Coaches Program. “I was one of the original people in that group [since 2020], so that’s been a huge thing.
“They’re helping coaches from a number of levels continue to develop their coaching and their coaching styles, and the NHL has been a huge partner with that, to help with that.”
St. Thomas returns to action Nov. 11 against St. Cloud State at the school’s new on-campus arena. “It’s amazing,” said Hayward of Anderson Arena. “Every piece of it, they did such a good job with it. I think it’s such a thoughtful building. Just well done.
“It’s great for the players,” he said. “I just feel very lucky to be here and to be at a place like St. Thomas.”
Unrivaled announces head coaches
Unrivaled, which begins its second season January 5, last week announced its head coaches — four of the inaugural six head coaches return.
Noelle Quinn, Rena Wakama and Roneeka Hodges are first-year HCs and join holdovers Teresa Weatherspoon, whose Vinyl BC finished runners-up, and Nola Henry, whose Rose BC won the 3×3 league’s first championship as the only Black female head coaches.
Andrew Wade returns and is the only Black male coach as the Laces coach.
Unrivaled, one of two domestic pro leagues operating during the WNBA off-season, also expanded and added two new clubs for this season.
Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments to challman@spokesman-recorder.com.