Husky soccer alumni and 2009 George Brown College graduate Luca DeMontis has achieved great success both in athletics and in his professional life. Over the course of his five years at George Brown, his indoor and outdoor soccer teams collected a total of six medals. While a student, DeMontis also worked part-time for the Toronto Raptors' Game Operations department. More recently, Luca's hard work and determination played a vital role in helping him build Canadian Blind Hockey, where he is currently the Program Director.
"George Brown started paving the way, and Canadian Blind Hockey changed my life completely," DeMontis said.
Luca was passionate about sports growing up and this passion has followed him throughout his career. Being Program Director at Canadian Blind Hockey comes with a wide range of responsibilities from managing to coaching and growing numerous youth and other Blind Hockey programs across Ontario to working on the Canadian National Blind Hockey Tournament. His interest in Canadian Blind Hockey began with his brother Mark DeMontis.
Mark was also a very talented athlete, who excelled in hockey. Mark received scholarship offers to the States, but sadly at the age of 17 lost his vision and became blind. After spending two years at Western University and being a recipient of the Terry Fox Humanitarian Award, Mark wanted to make a real difference and give children who are visually impaired the opportunity to dream and achieve their goals in hockey.
In 2009, Mark formed a not-for-profit organization called Courage Canada. Luca immediately got involved and, after meeting with marketing experts, the brothers decided to change the name to Canadian Blind Hockey. They are hoping to bring the sport of blind hockey to the international stage.
"Our biggest goal is being able to provide these children and youth with the ability to dream of one day wearing their country's jersey in the Paralympics. We feel blind hockey is a very inclusive sport and [that] it can be brought into the Paralympics when the time is right," Luca explained. "We've got a goal in our calendar of 2030 to have the sport of blind hockey in the Paralympics."
Blind hockey is growing both nationally and internationally. Luca and his team have helped start blind hockey leagues in the US, Finland, Russia, Sweden and England, while also increasing the number of teams in Canada from three to 14. Participants' ages range from four to 84 years old.
All Luca, his brother and Canadian Blind Hockey want to do is give kids a chance to dream.
"You know it's working when a kid comes up to you after playing and says, 'I am going to wear my country's colours one day,' " Luca stated. "That is the most important thing, letting them know they can, and have the ability to achieve their dreams. That's all we are trying to do."
The path started in high school when Luca had a co-op opportunity with the Toronto Raptors of the NBA. His first role with the organization was as an Assistant Mail Room Attendant. He used his time delivering mail to coordinators, general managers and players as an opportunity to interact and network within the organization, and eventually earned a position in the Game Operations department.
While working part-time with the Raptors, DeMontis was balancing the challenges that came with being a student-athlete. He was able to find success in the classroom as he graduated from the Business Marketing program. Throughout this period he was incredibly grateful for the support of the head coach at the time, Lucky Boothe.
"He was probably the biggest role model I ever had in my life. What he did for us off the field was incredible," DeMontis stated. "I think one of the biggest things Lucky prided himself on was how many guys are graduating this year. He took more pride in that than winning games and put an emphasis on off the field success. He wanted to know what your goals and aspirations were away from soccer."
With that sort of leadership, the Huskies put together a dominant run between 2004 and 2009. They were crowned OCAA champions in 2007 while earning a silver medal and two bronze medals in indoor soccer, as well as claiming a silver and a bronze in outdoor soccer. Being a Husky meant more to Luca than on field success.
"Looking back, little did I know I wasn't just joining a team, but I was actually joining a family," he explained. "That is something I did not think I signed up for, but it's something I will never forget."
Luca knows George Brown played a vital role in helping him become the Program Director at Canadian Blind Hockey. The values and culture he's instilling at his job are similar to the ones he learned while being a Husky.
For more information on Canadian Blind Hockey and how you can get involved visit https://canadianblindhockey.com/.
