Girls take to the ice in honour of Debbie Sims

Your Neighbourhood Credit Union (YNCU) held its inaugural Motivate 2 Skate 4 Girls event Wednesday Nov. 6 at the YNCU Soo Pee Wee Arena.

Girls from ages three to 16 were encouraged to take to the ice and enjoy skating, the youngest and tiniest participants assisted by members of the Sault College Cougars women’s hockey team and the Soo Jr. Greyhound Girls team of the Sault Female Hockey Association (SFHA).

Motivate 2 Skate 4 Girls (M2S 4Girls) was held in honour of the Sault’s Debbie Sims, a retired YNCU employee and major supporter of female hockey in the community.

It was her passion to see girls learn to skate and get involved in hockey.

Sims died May 14, 2024.

Sims worked in the credit union industry for 38 years, beginning with ASCU, then Community First Credit Union and finally with Your Neighbourhood Credit Union (YNCU). She served in a variety of roles including Member Service Representative and Interim CEO.

“She was a very intense person. She gave 100 per cent to everything she did. She’s done a lot for the community over the years. She started from the bottom at YNCU and worked her way up to the top and everybody grew to love her in the business. She was an all-round great person. She always had a smile on her face,” son Jordan Sims told SooToday at Wednesday’s M2S 4Girls event.

Retiring from YNCU in 2021, Sims dedicated much of her time to managing her granddaughter Lily's hockey team and worked to get more local girls involved in the sport.

“My niece Lily, her granddaughter, started in hockey when Sault Female Hockey was going through a transition and enrolment was pretty low and there weren’t a lot of opportunities for the younger girls. So my mother started taking part in helping the organization and growing the sport for girls. She started working on it, working hard as she always did. Basically she helped to grow Sault Female Hockey from some of its few bad years to what it is these days. It’s growing a ton. She grew to love the sport of hockey for girls and dedicated her retirement years to the Sault Female Hockey Association,” Jordan said.

Sims joined the SFHA board, raised funds for the organization and spread the word of local opportunities in hockey for girls.

The Sault Female Hockey Association includes four teams in the U7 Timbits Division, seven teams in the House League for girls from U11 to U18, Wildcats U9 and U11 teams and Soo Jr. Greyhound Girls teams ranging from U11 to U18.

House League games are played locally while Wildcats travel to up to three tournaments per season. The Soo Jr. Greyhound Girls teams are part of the Northern Ontario Women’s Hockey League (NOWHL) and attend tournaments throughout the season.

“When my own daughter started in Timbits there were 12 or 13 kids in her age group and now they have four teams and over 50 kids in that division. It’s grown tremendously so my mother’s efforts over the last few years are showing,” Jordan said.

Sims said his mother also enthusiastically followed the Sault College Cougars women’s hockey team.

Brooke Brazeau, Sims' neice, was a forward on the 2022-23 American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Championship-winning Sault College Cougars women’s hockey team.

The Cougars women’s hockey team repeated as ACHA champions in 2024 and are gunning for a third consecutive championship this season.

“My mother followed the Cougars quite closely and she was proud of what they accomplished,” Jordan said.

Going forward, the Motivate 2 Skate 4 Girls event will be held at YNCU Soo Pee Wee Arena every year. 

Wednesday’s event included the unveiling of a Debbie Sims memorial plaque on the YNCU Soo Pee Wee Arena’s Memorial Wall.

The event also officially launched the Debbie Sims Memorial Scholarship in honour of her legacy of leadership to young women in sports.

The $1,000 scholarship is intended to cover registration fees and costs for the 2024-2025 season, including equipment and travel. The scholarship will be awarded annually to one Sault Female Hockey Association player.

The first scholarship winner is 16-year-old Carys Webb, a goaltender for Team Essentials in the SFHA’s U18 House League.

“It’s amazing. All of this just goes to show my mother's efforts in the Sault are getting noticed,” said a visibly moved Jordan Sims.