Given his last name, you might think Caeleb Presley would be inclined toward a career in entertaining people with his voice.
You would think wrong.
"I sing like someone is standing on a cat," said an honest Presley, 12, a Grade 7 student at Vernon's Mission Hill Elementary.
OK, so Plan B.
If not entertaining people with his voice, Presley hopes to entertain with his talent on-ice and with a hockey stick in his hand.
Presley is in his second year with the Larry Kwong Memorial Hockey 4 Youth program, which sees all expenses covered for low-income kids that wouldn't get the chance to play hockey otherwise.
The program is the brainchild of Hockey 4 Youth, which is sponsored by the Canucks for Kids Fund and Canadian Tire Jumpstart charity, in which hockey gear and ice time are covered for the kids, breaking down a massive barrier.
"I always wanted to play hockey and thanks to this program, I get that chance now," said Presley, who has played defence and goalie, and is a fan of the Vancouver Canucks and their star forward Elias Pettersson. "It was so much fun. It wasn't an option not to sign up this year."
Hockey 4 Youth is a charitable organization that prioritizes inclusion in the sport for newcomer and sidelined boys and girls. Founded in 2015, it offers free hockey programs to schools in large Canadian urban centres, with one exception. After popping up in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Hamilton and Vancouver, Hockey 4 Youth branched out to its first small city: Vernon.
The program launched at the Okanagan Training Rink in 2023, named in memory of the Vernon born-and-raised Kwong, the first player of Asian heritage to play in the NHL when he took a shift for the New York Rangers in a game against the Montreal Canadiens at the old Forum in Montreal in 1948.
The event drew 20 kids out to learn the game once a week for 15 weeks.
"I loved last year. Starting a new program in a new community is always one of my favourite things, and the kids have never stepped on the ice before," said program founder Moezine Hasham, 47, back in Vernon for the 2024 launch.
"When I think back to last year, getting the Hockey 4 Youth program in honour of Larry Kwong up and running, it brings back happy memories for me. Seeing the kids with smiles on their faces, falling, getting back up, that's the beautiful part of the sport, when they're learning how to play. You immediately learn a life lesson."
Close to 20 kids from Mission Hill Elementary hit the ice Oct. 1 at the Priest Valley Arena for what Hasham said would be the first of 18 or 19 sessions this year, up from 15 in 2023.
Maiia Ivanova, 10, is a Grade 6 student who moved to Vernon with her family from Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine, after war broke out. She was asked last year if she wanted to try skating.
"I did, and I had heard of hockey back in Ukraine, so I tried it and liked it," said Ivanova. "It's great when you score a goal."
Hasham said 71 per cent of new citizens in Canada express an interest in hockey but only one per cent have the opportunity to play.
There are so many barriers that exist for kids to play hockey, he said, ranging from parents not having the money, or they're new to the country, or even culture and gender can be barriers. Hockey 4 Youth looks to remove all of that.
"We know hockey is a very expensive, exclusive sport," said Hasham.
Born in Vancouver, and an alumnus of the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George, Hasham said Hockey 4 Youth is a full-circle moment for him.
"I've been doing this since 2015 when we launched the first program," he said. "This year, I'm thinking we will have 15 programs in 10 cities across the country. We have a few more to launch, including two on Vancouver Island. It makes my heart feel warm to be able to give back to the community."
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