Hockey coach hopes to be catalyst for change

[Editor’s note: This is the final story of a three-part series about the viewpoints of local residents of color as the Black Lives Matter movement continues.]

Jami James, or “Coach JJ” as he is known to his students, has quietly built the fastest-growing hockey program in the Flathead Valley, the North American Hockey Preparatory Academy, which operates out of Stumptown Ice Den in Whitefish.

Having grown up playing one of the most predominantly white sports in the world, JJ, who is bi-racial, has experienced racism at every level of hockey, both as a player and as a coach.

One of his first experiences with racism came when he was 11 years old while attending a summer hockey camp in Minnesota. Kids from all walks of life attended the camp and some brought their racism with them.

“Kids really made you aware that you were not like them,” he said. “So I pretty much spent my life trying to talk like them, walk like them, be smart like them, and just be able to fit in, because it felt really bad to be me. It never faded away because I was always reminded at a game or in a locker room that I was a black person all the time.”

A specific incident stands out to JJ. He had two close friends he spent a lot of time with on and off the ice, but one day something changed.

“The minute somebody on the ice called me [the n-word], it wasn’t like they were my friends anymore,” JJ said. “I was alone. It’s almost like it was too hard for them to deal with so they didn’t deal with it. And so now I’m alone. So here’s my two best friends who didn’t even stick up for me.”

JJ, now 44, grew up in Berkeley, California, the son of a white woman who worked as a physical education teacher. He never knew his biological father and though his mother remarried when he was 13, his primary role models and father figures were coaches and other families that took him under his wing. He went on to earn a degree in child psychology from Castleton State College and a master’s degree in social work from San Jose State University. He also is a certified trainer and a SafeSport-certified, level 4 USA Hockey Coach.

He is the only black hockey coach in the state of Montana. Thus far, USA Hockey has not been forthcoming with any plan for increasing diversity in the state.

JJ SAID racial slurs have been hurled at him by other players on the ice, fellow coaches on the bench, parents in the stands, and sometimes he’s even been the subject of vicious Facebook posts.

“I always felt ashamed blaming somebody for not accepting me because of the color of my skin and I felt like if I could be more powerful as a person or if I change more of what I do, that people will accept me,” he said. “And I used to look in the mirror. I used to wish I could cut my lips off. I had beautiful curly hair and I would just keep it shaved and I hated my butt. I hated anything that identified me as an African-American.”

And even now, at Stumptown, he is still experiencing racism, he said. It seems never-ending. But JJ has never been one to fight fire with fire.

“No times have I ever been like ‘f you, you’re racist,’” he said. “I’m a high-road guy. I don’t fight back. I don’t really fire back. I find another way and I realize that the only way to do it is to continue to show success.”

He has an awareness that players he coaches may have family members or parents that hold racist views. While he isn’t directly confronting those people, he hopes he can be a catalyst for positive change through his hockey program and those that interact with him because of it.

“This is where you have that impact on these parents,” he said. “Maybe change comes like little steps like that. Maybe I am that one. And maybe there’s another one. Then another one. And then it goes away. Or maybe it doesn’t.”

JJ played junior hockey in Montana with the Helena Ice Pirates (he was the only African American player in the state) and played professionally in the Southern Professional Hockey League, the United Hockey League and the ECHL through his career.

Then he focused his efforts on coaching, founding the first hockey prep boarding school in California, the Tahoe Hockey Academy. In 2016, he and his wife Joy and children Lavena and Landon, relocated to Montana. North American Hockey Preparatory Academy, or NA Prep, was started in 2017 with 11 students. It has exploded in growth since then: there are now almost 700 students in the program.

The program relies mostly on word of mouth. You won’t find flyers or ads for NA Prep hanging up at Stumptown or around Whitefish. That’s partly due to JJ’s desire to stay out of the spotlight and partly due to the fact that the program is operating nearly at capacity. He hopes to continue his work growing the game of hockey in Montana by building a rink in Columbia Falls and further expand NA Prep.

He’s driven through Whitefish and has seen the Black Lives Matter protests over the past few weeks since George Floyd’s death, and admires the strength of those protesting, specifically Samantha Francine, who has appeared on national news networks since a photo of a confrontation with Jay Snowden, who has since been charged with disorderly conduct, went viral.

It inspired JJ to speak more about his experiences as a black man in America and in a predominantly white area of the country, something he typically keeps to himself.

“I do believe that the Black Lives Matter movement is very much based on the principles of Martin Luther King,” he said. “You can see it like that girl (Samantha Francine). I told my wife. I said, ‘you know what, babe? I would be a terrible protester because if that dude went in my face that day, I would have laid him out.’ That’s a threat to me and that girl. She sat there poised and strong, but I would’ve been the first one to feel completely attacked.”

Riots and looting have taken place in cities across the country, muddling the message of the Black Lives Matter movement. It’s easy to get stuck on that, he said, while ignoring the intent of the cause, which is racial equality and greater accountability for police officers.

“I don’t believe that the Black Lives Matter movement has anything to do with looters or anything to do with rioters,” JJ said. “There’s racism in every culture. And somebody has a reason to hate somebody for something that they did. I don’t think it’ll get better like that. I think that we start making those changes at home.”

He agrees that police officers should receive better training in de-escalation tactics during interactions with citizens.

“The biggest tactic, I think, that needs to be taught is that it’s a life,” JJ said. “It’s a person. It doesn’t matter if they’re black or white, Latino. Like, all lives do matter. So keep everyone precious.”

In addition to the ice rink, you can also find JJ on the stage. He counts theater as one of his passions and loves singing and acting. He is active in the Whitefish Theatre Company and often helps with productions.

“I like being busy,” he said.

Sports editor Katie Brown may be reached at 758-4426 or kbrown@dailyinterlake.com.