William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog since 2012. Douglas joined NHL.com in 2019 and writes about people of color in the sport. Today, he profiles Sarah Thompson, a senior forward on Syracuse University’s NCAA Division I women’s hockey team who founded Sticks Together, a nonprofit organization that has exposed the game to children in underserved communities in South Africa and Argentina.
Sarah Thompson wanted to use her visibility as a Syracuse University women’s hockey player for something more than signing a name, image and likeness deal that allows NCAA student-athletes to make money.
“When COVID hit and the NIL stuff came out … everyone was talking about signing deals and making themselves a brand,” Thompson said. “For me, I just want to use my platform to be able to give back to something bigger than myself.”
The 22-year-old forward from Ottawa established Sticks Together, a nonprofit foundation that aims to provide resources to give children in underprivileged communities around the world the chance to learn and play hockey.