"Did you ever think Free Play for Kids would get this big?" That's a question I get asked a lot.
Today, we reach more than 4,500 kids and their families every year. We employ 150 part-time staff. We run programs in as many as 50 locations at the same time.
All of this grew from one small moment back in 2007 – 20 kids at McCauley School just wanting to kick a ball around after class.
From the very beginning, the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation (EOCF) believed in that vision – that sport could be a tool for belonging, growth, and community. Thanks to their early support and the Oilers 50/50 raffle, that simple dream became what Free Play is today.
So, when people ask if I ever imagined Free Play for Kids would grow this much, my answer has always been YES.
Not just because there's an enormous hunger for sport – which there absolutely is – but because there are partners like the EOCF ready to support, and so many kids and families in need.
And I pause on that word – need.
We need places where kids truly feel like they belong. Where they experience care, compassion, and friendship. Where it doesn't matter what you look like, what you believe, or who you love. That's what sport – done well – creates.
We see it when 30,000 people come together downtown during an Edmonton Oilers Stanley Cup game. And we see it every single day in our Free Play for Kids school programs, now running in 26 elementary schools across the city.
A kid picks up a hockey stick for the first time. They join their school team. They compete and play together against other schools. In those moments – we are united.
Many of our kids have just arrived in Canada – new to the city, new to hockey, new to this kind of community. You see their eyes light up as they walk into Rogers Place or Fan Park in the ICE District for the first time – the lights, the noise, the energy.
They get a warm meal. They meet Darnell Nurse or an Oilers alumnus. They play. And for a few hours, they feel completely at home – like they truly belong here. That's the magic of sport.
Free Play for Kids is about connection, confidence, and leadership. Through play, kids discover not just teamwork, but empathy and courage. We're not shaping stronger athletes – we're shaping future leaders.
And that's why I’m so proud that the EOCF has made a major commitment to support our hockey pathway through 2030. Their leadership, along with support from the Oilers 50/50, ensures more kids will have access to hockey – not just as a sport, but as a space to connect, to grow, and to be part of something bigger than themselves.
Together, we're proving that when communities invest in play for kids – we all win.
