Huntsville’s Summer-Rae Dobson pursues her hockey dream at Ridley College

Summer-Rae Dobson loves to play hockey. She started playing Timbits at four years old and continued to play in Huntsville until she reached PeeWee, playing boys’ hockey because there was no girls’ program available. Her skills landed her a position on the Aurora Panthers squad but that meant hours on the road between Huntsville and her games and practices in grade eight and nine. She was missing school and losing friends. Her family knew something had to change.

She was missing out on school activities, she’d be getting done school, getting in the car and travelling the two hours down for practices. She was crying and we said we can’t keep doing this. That’s when we found Ridley College.Al Dobson, Summer-Rae’s dad

The independent school in St. Catharines has a long history of sports achievement. But beyond that, the Dobsons were impressed with the school’s academic standards. Ridley College is the only IB Continuum boarding school in Canada and one of three in North America. If they were going to send their daughter to boarding school at 14, they wanted to be sure her experience was going to be about more than just hockey.

“It’s tough to keep up when you’re playing and travelling to games,” says Summer-Rae’s mom, Connie. “We liked Ridley’s structured environment and how well they prepare students for university and for life.” Students are required to keep themselves on schedule and evening study time is mandatory for everyone. “It instills discipline.”

Equally impressive for the family was the school’s spirit and community

“A lot of the teachers live on campus so you have more of a relationship with them,” says Summer-Rae. “And there’s good support. I didn’t really feel homesick.” That was helped by the Ridley’s annual tradition of sending students away to camp together right before the school year begins – they start classes already having made friends.

Keeping both school and sport on track is a balancing act, says Summer-Rae. “It’s hard sometimes, but my guidance counsellor is good and there are tutors to help.”

“The resources for parents are great, too,” says Connie. “We always know what’s going on and can see everything from if they’ve missed a class to what’s on the menu for lunch.” The Dobsons can also watch all of Summer-Rae ‘s games, home or away, from the comfort of their own home, through Ridley’s commitment to the live streaming system TigerNET LIVE.

Because she’s on campus, Summer-Rae has had the opportunity to participate in other school activities and sports. And she also plays on the First Girls varsity team at Ridley. The team has landed in a new league for 2016-17 – the Junior Women’s Hockey League (JWHL) – which offers the players elite competition experience in preparation for NCAA and CIS athletics. “It’s one of the most dynamic and successful development league structures for university and college placement in North America,” says Jay Tedway, Ridley’s Director of Athletics.

In addition to the luxury of a private ice surface on which to practice and play, Summer-Rae is currently being coached by Amanda Benoit-Wark, two-time Women’s World Hockey Champion (1999, 2000), and Celeste Doucet, an Olympic contender and national champion.

All this experience has served Summer-Rae well. In grade 10 she was offered a full-ride hockey scholarship to MercyHurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania on their division one NCAA team. “It’s a verbal commitment right now because I couldn’t officially sign,” says Summer-Rae. “I’m still going through the SAT and ACT process and the NCAA clearinghouse.”

And that means she’ll be able to keep doing what she loves for a long time yet.

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