Taylor Marchi is in the riding to win a $5,000 prize toward her future university expenses. The Sparwood teen was one of the finalists in the Start Something with Alesse scholarship contest.
“The purpose of this contest is to sponsor two projects made by young Canadians that are intended to start something new and different and that are deemed great initiatives,” said Marchi to The Free Press. “I heard about this contest from a website called yconic which helps find scholarships for people pursuing higher education.”
Her idea was chosen from more than 1,500 Canadian submissions and has landed her in the top 10 finalists. The winners will be decided from the number of votes they receive. Voters are able to vote once a day over the voting period, which ends at the the beginning of next month.
Marchi has taken her passion for hockey and made it into a business plan to help make the barriers of getting equipment less for lower-income families.
“Shot at Hockey is an organization that collects new and used hockey equipment for children in low income families, making it more affordable for their child to play the sport,” she said.
The program will utilize communication streams to help organize and inform donation places and how to get into contact with the program.
Marchi focused her project on making hockey accessible to low income families. She has a love for the sport after playing for nine years.
Marchi focused her project on making hockey accessible to low income families. She has a love for the sport after playing for nine years.
“Shot at hockey will get the equipment from the help of social media, websites and newspapers like The Free Press, where people will be informed on contact information and designated places where they can donate their new or used equipment,” she said.
The program will offer players the opportunity to try on gear on certain nights, and at sport related events like registration.
“The equipment will get into the hands of the players once they have contacted shot at hockey,” she said. “They will then be able to try out equipment that is available on designated nights like hockey registration night or specific dates prior to the hockey season.”
The competition officially ends on May 2, and so far the support Marchi has received has been very positive.
“All reactions have been positive and encouraging. There has been a lot of support from many people to help share my organization idea and help me get votes,” she said.
The reasoning behind her contest entry was her love of hockey.
“The reason why I chose this as my idea was because I wanted to help others have the chance of playing hockey like I did,” she said. “My connection to hockey is that it's been a very big part of my life. I have played for nine years.”