INDIANAPOLIS — There's a young hockey player right here in Indianapolis taking social media by storm.
Six-year-old Desmond Garrett plays for the Indy Junior Fuel and has dreams of becoming a professional hockey player. That's why for every game day, he shows up to the rink wearing a full suit.
"I dress like it because I never know if the scouts are watching," Garrett said.
His dad, Adam, said he started doing it a couple of years ago after he saw professional athletes doing it.
"We actually got him a tuxedo for Thanksgiving so he could dress up and then he asked if he could wear it to the game," Adam said. "He's played in a couple national roller hockey tournaments and wore it there and everyone knew him from that."
The suit-wearing first-grader tends to catch people’s attention. A few weeks ago, his dad posted a photo of him in his suit online and it went viral, even posted by the NHL on their Instagram account.
"I think some of the other kids laugh at it but he sees the pros doing it and wants to emulate the pros," Adam said.
Desmond doesn't just look the part, he backs it up with his game, too. Ask anyone at the rink and they’ll tell you the kid has a natural gift.
"The first time we took him ice skating he had the opposite experience of most kids," Adam said. "He was out there for two hours and started bawling because they made him leave the ice. Once we got a stick in his hand and he did his first 'learn to play hockey' class at age 2, he just seemed to grab at it."
Desmond hopes to play in the NHL someday and, right now, he said he'd like to play for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
He also hopes his journey on the ice helps to encourage other people of color to play hockey, too. Right now, less than 5% of the NHL is made up of players of color.
"That’s a huge part. We’ve gone out of our way to introduce him to as many people that look like him that play hockey," Adam said. "Regardless of what color his skin is, we want people to see he’s a really good hockey player and a really, really good kid."
"I hope other kids learn to play the game fair and square and have a very fun time," Desmond said.
It’s that simple. From his skills on the ice to his suit game off of it, Desmond Garrett is sure to have future scouts watching.