MAITLAND, FLA – Hockey goalies are a unique breed. It takes equal parts of skill, mental toughness and bravery to be the last line of defense when frozen chunks of rubber come flying in their direction at speeds that at the professional level can top 100 miles per hour. But stand in the way they do, knowing that every save is important to the goalie, his or her team and the cause.
Eleven year old AJ Drake is one such netminder. He is very much aware that each stop he makes can be the difference between winning and losing. However, during the month of October, his saves have an added purpose: helping to save lives.
AJ Drake makes a save during a recent game (Photo courtesy of Vonne Drake)
For the second year in a row, AJ is involved in the “October Saves Goalie Challenge” program. For each save he makes in games during the month, he gets donations and pledges from family, friends and others with the proceeds going to various charities fighting cancer.
“My mom found it [October Saves} online and showed it to me. We talked about it and I wanted to do it so she helped me sign up,” AJ said about how he got involved. “Then I talked to everyone I know and asked them to pledge and my mom and dad asked a bunch of people too.”
AJ, who plays for the 12 and under Daytona Swamp Rabbits team, first became interested in the sport by playing video games and watching Tampa Bay Lightning games on television with his father. He said that the uniqueness of the game – especially since he lives in Florida – drew him in.
“I thought it was a really cool. I had to talk my parents into taking me to a try hockey free event and it was all I wanted to do,” he said. “When I tell people I play hockey everyone is surprised that there is hockey in Florida.”
His mother Vonne fondly remembers how quickly AJ took to the sport and his determination to get better – and his decision to become a goalie.
“He had only been on the ice once before that at a Try Hockey Free session, so he was trying to figure out how to stay up for half of the session! He was determined to figure it out, everyone else spent the last 40 minutes playing on the ice but he was determined to hit the puck into one of the small nets on the ice. There were several girls from the Lady Vipers helping that day, and two of them stayed with AJ the entire time. He was so excited when he finally hit the puck into the net, even though he fell down every time he did it,” Vonne said. “He begged to do it again so we signed him up for Learn to Play and it took off from there. We figured he would do some lessons and then move on to something else, but that didn’t happen. He was a Mite player for a year before he moved to goalie. He pestered the heck out of us to try it, he just seemed to gravitate towards the net every chance he got. So his last season of Mites we decided to let him give it a try, even though there were several coaches that tried to talk us out of it – and he was hooked. While he still plays out from time to time to keep up his skills he loves playing goal.”
The idea of playing net appealed to AJ’s competitive side.
“I like being the last man between the player and the net. I’m the last man standing. I also like the fun of destroying players dreams. They get mad when I make the save after they were sure they got it past me,” AJ said. “When you are the goalie you are the only one and everyone is relying on you to make the save.”
According to his mother, AJ’s choice to be a netminder caused a big change how his parents saw the game and their son.
“When AJ made the switch to goalie it totally changed how I viewed the game. As a skater if he had a bad shift, he would get a break on the bench and then come back out for the next one. When he is in goal it is constant, when he lets one in he has to shake it off and move forward on the fly,” Vonne said. “Being a goalie is truly the only individual player in a team sport. A goalie is often the unsung hero, they can make or break a team. I can’t sit with our team parents, I’m usually at the glass down by the net. When he gets frustrated we share hand signals- usually along the lines of shake it off, or celebrate when he makes a great save. Our rule after games is we talk about it in the car for 5-10 minutes. I ask him what he thought he did great with, and then what he thought he could have done better with, then we leave it at that. We always finish those conversations with the reminder that goalies can’t win games, but they can save them.”
Last September, Vonne came across the October Save website. She showed AJ the site and he was immediately interested because his family had lost a friend to cancer.
“Last year I did it for Ms. Kati, she was a friend of my mom’s and she used to cut my hair when I was little,”AJ explained. “She died from brain cancer so I wanted to do something for her.
Vonne saw the excitement in AJ’s interest right away.
“He was super interested for a few reasons. The fact that this was focused exclusively on goalies was really exciting for him, he was also facing a lot of shots with the young team he was on last year, so this was a way to turn those tough games into something positive,” she said. “We had also lost a close family friend to cancer, so he decided to do it as a way to honor her memory. I was running 10k [races] in support of Stand Up to Cancer in Kati Lewkowitz’ honor, I think it was important for him because he felt like he was able to do something independently.
AJ went to work getting pledges and donations. He ended up raising $1,500, putting him among the top 35 participants in the program. For his efforts, he was given an October Saves jersey.
“After every game as soon as I got off the ice I would ask my mom how many saves did I make. I made sure she put them in so I would get credit. I got excited to see how much money I earned for program,” AJ said. “I didn’t think I would raise that much money.”Â
For his parents, AJ’s participation brought added joy and pride.
“I was proud to see him throw himself into something like this. AJ is dyslexic and he also struggled with social anxiety when he was younger, so to see him going up to people and talking about October Saves was surprising to say the least. It increased his confidence both on and off the ice,” Vonne said. “I think the program is fantastic, not only because of the various charities they support, including a scholarship program with the Goalie Guild, but the sense of camaraderie it provides. It’s not about the goals they let in, but how many successes they have keeping it out. It’s easy to forget how much positive they do every game, this reinforces how hard they work.”
This year, AJ is dedicating his efforts to two people – one of them a family member – who lost battles with cancer.
“Well, my Uncle Mark passed away from acute myeloid leukemia last month, he was diagnosed less than a year ago. We would spend time with him every summer when we would go on vacation to Pensacola. We couldn’t go this year because he was really sick, so I’m really sad I didn’t get to see him one last time,” he explained. “My mom told me about Ms. Ann [longtime Orlando Solar Bears fan Ann O’Brien] when we went to the game the Solar Bears paid tribute to her. When I found out she had the same type of cancer that Ms. Kati had and she loved hockey too I wanted to raise donations for her as well.”
AJ’s mother said that his uncle’s passing hit AJ hard and that after hearing about O’Brien’s death, he immediately wanted to dedicate this year’s fundraising to both.
“This year he decided to dedicate to his Uncle Mark and to Ann Carrol O’Brien. Mark past away from acute myeloid leukemia last month, and he was devastated. We travel to Pensacola every summer and AJ and his brother Dillon would help Mark around the farm. They had so much fun with him and every summer it was a different adventure. I think this is a way to help him work through his grief as well as paying tribute to him,” Vonne said. “Ann Carrol O’Brien was a part of our bigger “hockey family”. We actually met Ann at a Solar Bears game, I think it was because AJ was trading the hockey cards and they may have swapped some cards. I learned through the Igloo FB page that she was diagnosed with the same type of rare brain cancer as our friend Kati. We attended the game that the Solar Bears paid tribute to Ann, and AJ was frustrated that someone else had had to go through what Kati had gone through. So he asked if he could honor more than one person this year because she was hockey family.”Â
Over time, Vonne has herself become more involved with the October Saves program, joining her son in promoting the program throughout the state of Florida.
“This year I decided to help the program and became the October Saves captain for the state of Florida. I’m working on getting the word out there and encouraging more goalies to join the challenge and #makesavescount,” she said. “AJ’s travel program, the DME Swamp Rabbits in Daytona have embraced the goalie challenge this season – we have at least one goalie from each travel team participating, from 8 and under Mites all the way to 18 and under AA team. We even have some goalies from the adult leagues at the RDV [Sportsplex Ice Den] participating this year, along with goalies from FAU [Florida Atlantic University] which is fantastic. We have already doubled the number of goalies participating this year and hopefully we will have more join us as we get into the month of October.”
AJ has increased his goal for fundraising for this year and is determined to not only meet but surpass it.
“His goal this year is to raise $2,000 – which is $500 more than he raised last year. It’s going to be a lot of work, but we will do everything we can to help him reach his goal,” his mother said. “People can go to www.octobersaves.org and use the Find a Goalie search bar to pull up his page.”
Through all of it, mom Vonne hopes that AJ realizes that through the October Saves program, he is learning valuable life lessons that will stay with him long after his pads and catching glove are retired.
“I hope it encourages him to continue to find ways to support others and support his community. Participating in this goalie challenge has taught him that age doesn’t matter, he can make a positive impact in the world regardless of his age,” she said. “I hope he continues to build his confidence in being a leader both on and off the ice.”
AJ Drake and his mom Vonne (Photo courtesy of Vonne Drake)
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