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When Tatum White returns to her hometown of Kingston, Ontario, every summer, she stays on the ice to teach the next generation of women’s hockey players.

For two years, White has held TW Hockey, an all-female hockey camp in her community. Before she started in summer 2022, White said it had been nearly 10 years since Kingston hosted an all-female hockey camp. Former Canadian ice hockey player and four-time Olympic gold-medalist Jayna Hefford ran one that White’s junior teammates attended as kids.

So, White, now a senior at Syracuse, created one. Tailored toward girls ages 7-14, the camp teaches participants about the sport while giving them an opportunity to hone their skills in the rink.

“The goals I’ve achieved I am very proud of,” White said. “It’s my responsibility coming from Kingston, giving back to my community, giving back to those girls. I feel like I didn’t have that role model growing up. I just want to be that person.”

Melissa Jefferies, one of White’s junior hockey teammates, said White prioritized helping the community well before starting TW Hockey. She offered to assist other camps around the area and often volunteered to help young girls skate at local rinks on the weekends.

“I wanted to be that person for the younger girls coming through, something I feel like I didn’t have a ton of growing up,” White said. “Just being that inspiration and showing the younger girls what is possible as a female hockey player is my inspiration for the camps.”

The camp, held at the INVISTA Centre in Kingston, involves a mix of on-ice drills and off-ice activities, like soccer, for the campers. Kingston local John Choquette said his 10-year-old daughter, Rypken, got to face older competition, which was a fun challenge for her. John Vallier, father of 13-year-old Tayah Pratt-Vallier, said White takes extra care of the campers and makes sure they are improving.

“They teach them the drills and they correct them, but they correct them in a positive manner,” Vallier said. “If you send some people to some camps…they just run them through drills and there’s no correction.”

Choquette said that the majority of youth hockey camps in the Kingston area aren’t split by gender. White’s camp being all-female has made it an inviting place for young girls, Choquette said.

Some of the campers have made the two-and-a-half hour trip from Kingston to Syracuse to watch White’s collegiate games. From Oct. 6-7, White said four campers and their families came to watch the Orange take on Merrimack. They greeted her with big hugs.

“I’ve gotten very close with some of them,” White said. “It was just awesome to see their smiles and I think my smile was as big as theirs because I was just so happy to see them. It’s just awesome to know I can be such an influence on them.”

At the week-long camp, White recruited three of her former junior hockey teammates to help coach. Jefferies (St. Lawrence), Darcie Lappan (Clarkson) and Alexa Hoskin (Quinnipiac), among others, assist with TW Hockey.

Pratt-Vallier said she has improved her hockey skills after learning from experienced players like White and her past teammates.

“(The coaches) have given us their whole background story from when they were younger, and so I’ve definitely taken some of that and thought about it,” Pratt-Vallier said. “It’s pretty amazing because they’ve gone through everything I’ve gone through, so they know.”

Jefferies said White and the coaches work in a collaborative environment, focused on combining their hockey knowledge and passing it down to the girls. For Lappan, her involvement with TW Hockey makes her wish she had a camp like it when she was growing up.

“It’s very special,” Lappan said. “I know if I was in their shoes, I would’ve looked up so much to that. Being able to help them out and get them to be better, help them figure out what they want, if they want to keep playing or see what Division-I hockey is like…it’s a special moment to give back and help them.”

Sometimes, the coaches play hockey with the campers. During the camp’s first year, Jefferies suited up to play and White refereed the scrimmages. Jefferies remembered her presence in the rink inspired and excited the kids.

If the girls weren’t on the ice, they were cheering and making up chants. Jefferies said that they’ve built a strong reputation for the camp, which began with 25 girls and has since duplicated.

With winter break approaching in two months, White said she has started booking ice time for the camp’s next session and plans on continuing to coach in the future.

“It means so much for me to get to know them as people and hockey players,” White said. “Seeing them succeed warms my heart.”

Published on October 18, 2023 at 12:41 am

Contact Timmy at: tswilcox@syr.edu | @TimmyWilcox32