Josh Anderson is a busy young man.
He’s been hitting the books, focused on graduating with a degree in criminal justice from Nipissing University, where he is also a member of the Nipissing Lakers Men’s Hockey Team.
In his spare time on Sundays, he volunteers with North Bay North Stars Hockey, a program for children and adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities.
“I stumbled across them through our men’s hockey team playing with them. We do an annual game and over my time here, I realized it was a prime opportunity to help out and give back to the community,” explained Anderson.
“I help on the ice with different skills, either it’s demonstrating a drill, or sometimes helping with some one-on-one. Just simple skills like skating for some individuals, it is a wide variety of skills that I help them with.”
Anderson pledges to continue volunteering for the remainder of the season.
“I started volunteering with the North Stars in December last year and continued until the end of our school season and then this year with our season being done, I plan to pick up now until the end of April when I head home.”
Home is Nestleton, a small town located roughly 30 minutes from Oshawa.
In return for his time, Anderson receives personal satisfaction knowing he is making a difference.
“For me, it is so much fun to volunteer, especially when you see the smiles on their faces. They normally look up to us being on the Lakers’ hockey team, and playing for the university, so just seeing the joy on their faces is rewarding. Even today you can see guys smiling and happy to be here. That is what keeps me coming back because they take so much joy in it, I believe,” shared Anderson whose face lights up when he talks about this group.
“Just giving back to the community, is so easy to do, and that is the one thing that I have noticed from this, it is a simple action, but it goes a long way for our team and the community. We need to do more, and something like this is a simple way to put us out there. From helping out with the North Stars, they come out and watch our games and I come out every Sunday,” added Anderson.
“They’re my friends really. It’s just another practice for me. I enjoy it and instead of practicing all the time and being the one doing the drills, it’s nice to run the drills and the coaching aspect of it.”
Past North Stars President Denis Ouellette can’t say enough good things about the volunteers they have had from Nipissing University.
“It is extremely important for the players, and for the coaches on the ice as well. We’re working with special needs people so the more volunteers we have to help out, the better the learning experience for the player,” Ouellette stated.
“ We have roughly 18 players per team. We have an A team and a B team. Players range in age from 8 to 9 on our C team.”
In addition to giving of his time, Anderson has found a way to put used hockey sticks, which are still in good condition, to good use.
“If I see someone with an older stick and I can help them out by giving them one, I will for sure do that. Sticks are expensive so, if I can give back in a simple way like that, I will,” shared Anderson.
“Being out here I noticed some of the blades are pretty banged up or just older sticks that aren’t great, and they could do better if they had better sticks. So just having the resources of old sticks from the team, I gave a kid a nice stick and he seemed super happy. I love to give back in that way.”
On this day members of the B team hit the ice for practice.
“The youngest player on our B team is about 14 and the oldest player on our B team is in his 30s. This is a mixed team; we have both young men and young women on the team.”
The extra help they receive is reflected in their increased abilities.
“We’ve had some players over the course of the season actually move up from our B team to our A team because they have improved that much. Other players because you’re dealing with special needs people, they develop at a different rate so some will never move up from our B team and others are just very quick learners.”
Being the best they can be is important to the players.
“They have a lot of pride coming out. For a lot of them, this is their highlight of the week, and the tournaments we go to are the highlight of the year.”
The North Stars have also played against community partners such as the police and fire departments along with the Lakers men’s and women’s hockey teams.
“The Nipissing University students, when they come in and assist, the players really take to that because these are high-level players, so they’re open to listening and they really appreciate the help. It’s like ‘These guys really know their hockey so we’re going to listen, and we’re going to learn from that.’ It is just wonderful having them around,” said Ouellette.
“They give me just as much joy as I would hope I give them. I look forward to coming out here on the ice, I love doing it,” noted Anderson, who hopes others will take over the reins when he graduates.
“Just the other day I was talking with a couple of my teammates, and I said I was moving on next year, so there is an opportunity here if someone wants to fill in and keep this going and keep helping out and contribute more to our community.”
Inspire is a monthly article that highlights the good works of teens and people in their 20s and 30s who go out of their way to give back to the community or whose personal experiences may inspire others to think outside the box with positive results.
