Tina’s Tools

How Maple Grove’s Tina Kampa is making the game more diverse and inclusive for young girls of color

By: Jessi Pierce

TINA KAMPA WASN’T QUITE BORN WITH ICE IN HER VEINS, but she’s since dedicated much of her life to the game as a player. Adopted from Colombia before she was 1 year old, the former Bemidji State defenseman is now taking on a new role as coach, mentor and community leader. Kampa, along with former Maple Grove teammate Maia Martinez, founded Minnesota Unbounded, a group of 10U and 12U hockey teams that welcome young girls of color to the sport she loves.

MHJ // Hockey—was it love at first skate?

Tina Kampa // I actually started in just skating lessons, and that didn’t go as well as my parents were hoping. I didn’t want to go every day, so then my dad was like, ‘OK, well, I played hockey growing up, I really want her to play hockey, I want her to try it,’ so he was on his way home from work one day and he signed me up. It was one of the best decisions he’s made. I absolutely loved it. I always wanted to be at the rink, I was the last one on the outdoor rinks when it was dark. I kind of never stopped.

MHJ // Growing up in Maple Grove as a Latina hockey player, did you ever sense that you were ‘different’ than many of your peers?

TK // I think growing up I always knew that I looked different than everybody. I looked different than my family and my sisters, and that was just something that was pretty known, and not something that was out of the ordinary per se. My experiences in the neighborhood and sports were always great. Everyone knew I looked different, but they never made it a negative thing. I was very lucky to have played with two other girls at a young age who were also not white. They didn’t necessarily look like me, but they had different backgrounds as well, so we had this special bond. It was something we didn’t exactly talk about, but you could feel that. It was a little bit of comfort.

MHJ // You recently had an opportunity to embrace your heritage…

TK // I did. I went to Florida to play for the Colombian National Team in a Latin American tournament with countries from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Brazil. There were men’s and women’s, all sorts of different divisions, but just to be able to go down and play and represent Colombia is super exciting.

MHJ // You were drafted 12th overall by the Minnesota Whitecaps. Will you be playing pro hockey?

TK // To be drafted by them and for them to think of me in that manner was super exciting. But I was offered an assistant coaching job at Hamline University, so I’m going to take that on. I am super excited to be able to start my coaching career at the college level. It’s not an opportunity you get every day, and it’s something you have to think about and decide what you want to do. Hamline was a no-brainer for me. It’s college hockey, it’s Division III, a great level to be at, and it’s close to home and a place I get to work with a lot of talent. Everything happens for a reason. As great as it is to continue to play hockey, I’m doing something a little different and giving back, so I’m excited about that.

MHJ // You were a part of the newly launched College Hockey for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiative. What was that like?

TK // That was one the coolest things I’ve ever been a part of. Jen Flowers, commissioner of the WCHA, was the brains behind the operation of getting this group together. We knew none of it was going to be easy, but we all thought, if we can get just the group to commit and support the same thing, we can take those ideas into action that’s going to be something super beneficial. I was super honored to be a part of something like that.

Change isn’t easy, and it’s not something that, all of a sudden, the hockey world and culture is going to change—people think that’s how it goes—but there’s a lot of background and smaller steps that work toward creating something bigger. These people are absolutely amazing. It’s nice to feel like I have somebody else to talk to about these things and help create a space where we feel comfortable and confident sharing these stories and we are able to tell others they can do the same and continue to help educating people to make hockey a better cultural experience. We’ve seen it knocked down, and we know that is not something happening all the time. Our goal is to make hockey a better version of itself, continuing to branch out individually and making things happen.

MHJ // Is that what led you to such a defining role with MN Unbounded, a grassroots effort to encourage girls of color to participate in hockey?

TK // It’s something I can’t fully put into words. We can sit here and tell everybody it’s super cool and inspiring and influential and rewarding, but there’s really not a full word or phrase that can capture everything that I feel about it. It’s just incredible. I think the coolest thing is that there are four of us, women of color, coaching and being a part of these players’ lives in a different way. They see us as mentors, as coaches, as friends even. It’s all about giving them anything that they can use to be successful. Oftentimes they’re going to be overlooked, and there’s going to be barriers in their way simply because of the way that they look. Anything we can do to uplift these girls and give them confidence for them to be their full and authentic self is something that is also our mission. We know that hockey isn’t going to be forever, but it’s going to be a big part of who they are and what they want to be and what they want to continue to share with the world; it’s going to be a part of just making them the person they are aspiring to be.

MHJ // What do you hope are next steps for MN Unbounded which is still in its infancy?

TK // Just the fact that we’re going to be able to continue to have these teams for these girls and these experiences is the first thing. We’re actually going to have three teams this year, a 14U, 12U and 10U, so that’s super exciting because it means we’re growing even just a little bit. Ultimately, it’s hoping that these girls can find this bond, find confidence, and own it. Knowing they are different and that’s special and they should not be afraid to walk into a rink every day.

MHJ // Do you get the sense that the hockey culture is taking a step toward a more inclusive future?

TK // In the last year we’ve seen a lot of hockey culture change at all of the levels and that’s super exciting to see where hockey is going for the better. But, there’s still incidents that we hear about every day and the work we still have to do. If everybody can do a little bit of something and believe in themselves and realize that they can impact people and that their story matters and they’re not afraid to share those things, it’s crazy to see the impact that can have on other people. It just takes one of those stories for other people to hear and believe that, OK I can do something too. I can help somebody. I can help change hockey and make it better.