During my 21 years of covering high school sports in St. Louis, I’ve had many occasions to speak to student-athletes who attend Cardinal Ritter College Prep.
Many of the talented athletes that have come through the doors of Cardinal Ritter have been stars in basketball, football, track and field, which is not surprising since Cardinal Ritter has always been an all-African-American high school.
Last week, I was in Cardinal Ritter’s building again to do a feature on another talented student-athlete. However, this one was a little different. The subject of this interview was Marcus Mitchell, who happens to be a standout hockey player.
A hockey player at Cardinal Ritter. Earl, you’ve got to be kidding me.
“It shocks a lot of people when I tell them I play hockey,” Mitchell said. “Many black people are surprised as well.”
Believe it folks. Marcus Mitchell is a talented young African-American hockey player who has dreams and aspirations of playing at the highest level just like the kid growing up in the hockey hotbed of Canada. He isn’t just a hockey player, he’s quite good at it.
“My dream is to one day play in the National Hockey Association,” Mitchell said. “Ever since I was four years old, that is what I’ve wanted to do. I do something with hockey every day.”
Being an African-American in a sport that has so few has not deterred Mitchell from playing a sport that he loves and plays so well. In all of his years of playing hockey, he could probably count the number of black players he’s played with or against on one hand, but he would love to see that change and he doesn’t mind being a role model for young kids who aspire to play hockey.
“I’ve had some challenges along the way being the only black player, but it has made me stronger,” Mitchell said. “I try to encourage other African-American kids who want to play hockey to do it. I like being a role model to young kids who want to play.”
A native of Champaign, Ill., Mitchell first put on a pair of skates at the age of three. He started playing hockey one year later and showed great promise at an early age as he moved around the Midwest region. He has lived in Illinois and Indiana before relocating to St. Louis for his senior year of high school at Ritter.
Mitchell is currently a member of the St. Louis AAA Blues, a Tier 1 AAA team that competes in the Mid-America Hockey League in the 18-year old division. It is all part of the Central States League. In his first year with the team, the 6’2” 180-pound Mitchell plays center and right wing for a talented team that is ranked No. 14 among the 130 teams that compete in the Midget Major AAA level around the country. The team practices during the week at the Chesterfield Ice Complex. The games are typically played on weekends as the AAA Blues travel around the country playing two or three games in a weekend.
“My role on the team is a hitter,” Mitchell said. “We had about 120 kids try out for about 10 spots, so I was fortunate to earn a spot on the team.”
Mitchell’s love of hockey seemed to happen by chance. When he was three, he accompanied his mother, Bertha Mithcell, on a business trip to Phoenix. While she was away, he stayed with the hotel manager who happened to be a former NHL player. Mitchell had a chance to see all of the hockey memorabillia around the room which stoked his interest in the sport. When the Mitchells returned to Champaign, he bugged his mother about playing hockey.
Mitchell joined a pee wee hockey team called the Champaign Chiefs when he was five and immediately showed signs of being a future star. He even scored 83 goals in one season when he was 10 years old.
“It just seemed like a gift, so I just kept working at it,” Mitchell said. “In the middle of the night, I would sneak down in the basement and start working on my game.”
As well as being an excellent hockey player, Mitchell is also a top student in the classroom. After graduating from Cardinal Ritter, he plans on playing in the Junior Division for one or two more years before moving on to college. He has already expressed interest in schools such as Princeton, Boston University and Michigan State.
With his combination of skills and academic prowess, young Marcus Mitchell appears well on his way to achieving his goals.
