Toronto (by David DiCenzo) - Tayler Murphy got to experience some pretty special times playing on her hometown Midget AA team the Sudbury Lady Wolves. The 20-year-old forward, and current member the York Lions, was fortunate enough to host the Esso Cup with her old local team. And while winning a national junior championship has made an impression on Murphy, it was a chance meeting at a Wolves’ event in Sudbury that had a more profound impact on her life.

Back in 2016, Murphy and her teammates were participating in a winter coat drive. They put on their Wolves jerseys and went to meet some members of the community. It was there that the words of a tiny, five-year-old would change Murphy and her big sister Makenna’s lives.

“There was a little girl who turned to her mother and said, ‘See Mom, girls are allowed to play hockey, too,’” recalls the younger Murphy sister, who is a third-year business student at Schulich School of Business at York University. “That mother had mentioned to us that hockey wasn’t an option for them because of the finances. It got us thinking, that happens for a lot of people.”

“I went back home and spoke to Makenna. We decided that we wanted to help fix this problem.”

That brief interaction was the genesis of Dream to Be, a non-profit organization with the goal of providing young girls, whose families don’t have the financial means, an opportunity to play hockey. The Murphys were fortunate enough not to face that obstacle. They began their love affair with hockey playing in the neighbourhood streets or at their grandfather’s, who would clear the snow off the ice at his lakeside house so the sisters could skate.

Tayler began to play at age seven and a year later, big sister caught the bug.

“It was a sense of comfort knowing you were going to the rink,” says Makenna, a 22-year-old Laurentian University graduate and current Registered Nurse, who hung up the skates after playing midget. “You were there to have fun.”

“Starting Dream to Be, that was always something we wanted the girls we support to have, that sense of community. I still have lots of hockey friends that I know I’ll have forever.”

Depending on the age of a local girls’ hockey participant, the cost of playing can be about $600 a year and up. Tayler and Makenna launched the project with an in-depth fundraising campaign that included a successful Go Fund Me campaign, as well as events like bake sales, yard sales, and raffles. They amassed about $2,000, hoping they would be able to support a few deserving girls.

And in the fall of 2017, the first two applications arrived, appropriately enough, from a pair of sisters – Macey and Lillie.

“Their family really expressed the need,” says Makenna. “And seeing two sisters, we could relate. What better people to help to start it?”

Just last fall, the next two Dream to Be girls joined on, Kaeleigh and Ida-May. It’s been a humbling experience for the Murphys.

“The greatest thing for us is when we initially meet the kid,” says Tayler. “Just seeing a smile on their face is the biggest reward we could ever ask for. We’ll go watch them play hockey as much as we can. Over Christmas, when I come home, I’ll try make a few games. It’s fun watching them skate and having a great time with their friends. We keep in touch with parents, who will email us updates.”

“It’s the girls who matter,” adds Makenna. “We don’t do it for any other reason than them. Seeing them smile and grab their equipment, walking around the store in their skates is the best part. It’s amazing.”

Now with the first four girls having entered the program, the goal is to grow and flourish with new and innovative marketing strategies. The sisters have had help on that front thanks to a generous Sudbury community, including the residents and some corporate partners. The Sudbury Professional Firefighters Association have chipped in $1,000 in support, while the local Women’s Hockey Academy has contributed a percentage of their sales to Dream to Be. The company Cooper Equipment Rentals has provided tickets for fundraising, retailer Pro Am Sports helps with all the equipment needed, and the Sudbury Girls Hockey Association has offered discounts for participants.

“They’re really on board,” Makenna says of the community, adding that she will also get random donations from coworkers.

She says that while it would be a dream to see one of the kids go forward in the game and become an elite player, they know hockey might not be for all of them.

“If they did grow up to play hockey for the rest of their lives, that’s amazing,” says Makenna. “They get the opportunity to work with a team and have those friendships. If not, we love that we got to support them for one year.”

Helping a few girls a year be exposed to the game they love is worth all the effort.

“The more the better,” says Tayler, acknowledging the strength of the Sudbury hockey community. “We need to come up with new ways to find the resources. That’s a big thing for us right now, continuing to find the finances to keep growing our organization and promoting it so it’s a well-known name in Sudbury.

“We want to increase the number of kids we support and keep putting smiles on their faces.”

Please visit https://dreamtobe.ca/ for more information on supporting girls hockey in the Sudbury community.

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Tayler Murphy teams with sister to turn 'Dream to Be' into reality for young girls