By Dorothy Brotherton

THE HOCKEY season may be over, but ministering to the spiritual needs of the players continues.

For Don Richmond, chaplaincy programs are not about athletes asking God to fix it so they win. “I’m not so sure God is interested in the score, so much as in the lives,” said Rev. Richmond, who is team chaplain of the Westside Warriors, a B.C. Hockey League team based near Kelowna.

Richmond also heads the B.C. Branch of Hockey Ministries International (HMI). In addition to providing spiritual support during the hockey season, HMIalso ministers during the summer, through its hockey camp program.

Richmond’s concerns are the off-ice issues of the players.

The players are young, he explained, away from home, dealing with the stress of scholarship dreams or advancing their hockey careers. They experience a certain celebrity status. There are the girls, the booze, the drugs and all the temptations that come with the hockey culture. It’s easy for a young man’s head to be turned.

“I try to keep them on the straight and narrow. There are issues they come and talk to me about that they can’t talk about to their coach, their billets or their friends.”

Coaches have told him they use the chaplaincy program as a recruiting tool. Parents worry about their young men leaving home, but they may feel reassured when they know a chaplain is in place.

Richmond structures his sessions very simply. He holds a 25-minute voluntary chapel every two weeks, in a dressing room next to the Warriors’ dressing room. He opens in prayer, then leads a discussion centered on a Bible quotation. He usually tells a brief, real-life story to illustrate the principle they are discussing. They close with the chapel motto and a prayer circle. The majority of the players usually attend.

Players are welcome to talk privately with the chaplain, and it’s not always a spiritual issue. “There are issues about girls, addictions, dysfunctions, not being able to get along – all sorts of life lessons,” said Richmond.

He tries to stay out of the on-ice issues, even when fighting erupts. “I try to understand there is a culture here. Two kids may fight, but they are friends. It’s not a brawl.”

HMI is a charitable organization which has hosted chapels, clinics, camps and conferences for the hockey world since 1977. This summer, the organization is holding its annual five-day Live-In Boys’ &Girls’ Camp in Grand Prairie, Alberta, in cooperation with local churches. The HMIwebsite says the camp theme is ‘Road to Victory’; spiritual topics to be covered will include self-control, courage and perseverance.

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There are chaplaincies in 22 North American leagues, and HMI is active in youth, college, junior, European and minor pro hockey, as well as the NHL.

Richmond travels all over B.C., visiting coaches and managers to set up or assist chaplaincy programs. On Vancouver Island, the Victoria Grizzlies and the Nanaimo Clippers have had programs for two years; the Port Alberni Bulldogs for one year and the Cowichan Valley Capitals for about five years. All are Junior A clubs, and all are part of the B.C. Hockey League.

“I’m meeting next with the board of governors of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League, a Junior B league, presenting the chaplaincy program,” said Richmond. It would be a big open door because there are 18 teams from Victoria to Campbell River.

“A lot of these programs did not exist three years ago. It’s a new field, and exciting things are happening.”

Richmond describes himself as “a typical Canadian boy--a ring rat,” growing up on the prairies and spending lots of time playing hockey. He went to Bible college, and became a pastor, but wherever he was he gravitated to the rink.

“I have a heart for God, but I wanted to make a change and spend more time in the community,” Richmond said.

After 18 years pastoring in Smithers and Vernon, he became an assistant to a man who started a chaplaincy program for the Vernon Vipers. A short time later, the man left, and Richmond picked up the torch. Then he joined the hockey ministries group. Currently, Richmond is part-time community pastor for Evangel Church in Kelowna.

“The arena becomes my parish,”he said. “Nothing excites me more than walking among people and trying to be a bit of light.” One of the most gratifying parts of his work is when players come back to him after a few years asking him to perform their weddings. He has even conducted funerals connected with hockey players and their families.

“As much as I love the game, it’s about relationships,” said Richmond.                                   – courtesy of Westside Weekly

May 2008