The North York Knights Minor Midget AA team is accepting donations for gently used hockey equipment to be sent to the Sioux Mountain Hockey Academy, based in Sioux Lookout, Ontario – a hub to over 30 First Nations communities located four hours north of Thunder Bay.

Run by teacher Steve Dumonski, the Sioux Mountain Hockey Academy was established for kids Grades 1 through 8 in an effort to keep students connected to school and, hopefully, out of trouble. Most of the participants in the hockey academy are First Nations children whose families, either moved from a remote community or sent their child down to Sioux Lookout to attend school.

What started as a program with 80 students, quickly became 110 kids, and for the 2016/17 season, has expanded further to the local Queen Elizabeth District High School and schools in Dryden, Vermillion Bay, Ear Falls, Red Lake, Pikangikum and Sandy Lake – currently reaching over 500 kids.

The Hockey Academy is run in partnership with Hockey Canada. Some equipment donations have been received, but not enough to keep up with the demand.  The Knights are looking for donations of quality hockey equipment that another child would be proud to wear. All equipment is needed, especially goalie equipment, but please no jerseys or socks.

Equipment donations can be dropped off in the main lobby at Scotiabank Pond (57 Carl Hall Road) on Sunday, February 12, 2017 between 1:30 and 5:30 p.m. 

The Sioux Lookout Hockey Academy has been featured on CBC’s The National for making hockey accessible to children in the far north.  Watch to learn more about the difference the program has made in the community.