Leah Wockey was a huge hockey fan.
The recent graduate of Green Woods Charter School would watch her boyfriend’s team play, and she couldn’t get over how exciting it was.
So she stopped watching.
“My boyfriend plays hockey for Snider’s Senior team at Simon’s,” Wockey said. “I had been going to all his games and we ice skate and play street hockey a lot. He kept saying I should play. Then my basketball season at school got canceled because there weren’t enough girls on the team and he finally convinced me to do it and I really loved it.”
Not only did she love it, she got good.
Wockey started playing for the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation, which was a natural fit not only because her boyfriend played there, but because her parents were always fans of the Philadelphia Flyers.
It’s safe to say Leah will forever be a Flyers fan because she’s officially a Sentinel, and it’s partly due to the Flyers hockey organization.
Wockey was awarded a full, four-year scholarship to Little Flower High School after winning the Sniders Breakaway Scholarship.
The scholarship is part of the Ed Snider Youth Hockey and Education Foundation, and it goes to someone for being a good hockey player as well as someone who displays leadership skills and strong character.
The scholarship is nice.
But for Wockey, knowing you are doing the right thing made the honor that much more special.
“(It’s special) because you really have to be a good player and person to get it,” she said. “It means so much to me especially because it helps my family so much financially and allows me to go to a great school like Little Flower. I also feel honored to be chosen because I put in a lot of ice time trying to get better and they recognized my dedication. That feels pretty good.”
The Roxborough native is now looking forward to starting her career at Little Flower.
Obviously ice hockey won’t be part of what she does there. The Sentinels, like every other Catholic League school, don’t offer ice hockey for girls, so she’ll be unable to play her favorite sport there.
But that doesn’t mean she won’t be ready to represent her high school.
“That would be so cool if they had ice hockey,” Wockey said. “But since they don’t, I think I might try field hockey next.
“I was in the yearbook club at Green Woods, that might be fun to check out at Little Flower. I like to take pictures.”
Wockey plans to take advantage of every opportunity offered at Little Flower, both in school and extracurricular activities. She’s really looking forward to what she can learn at her new school.
“I thought a school that was a little smaller would be a good fit for me and everyone I know who has gone there says amazing things about it there and that it’s like a sisterhood,” Wockey said. “It just seems like a place I want to be a part of.”
The decision was an easy one.
Not only is it the perfect school for her, she’s going on a scholarship. That will help her family who has always been there for her, as has brother London.
“My parents are my biggest supporters,” Wockey said of her parents Mike and Liz, while adding her boyfriend and brother are also huge supporters. “My mom spends countless hours driving me to and from skate sessions and practices and sitting in a cold ice rink and giving all my hockey friends rides. I appreciate her more than she knows. My dad and my boyfriend take a lot of time to teach me about hockey. All the coaches at Simon’s have helped me so much, too, but especially Coach Lucas. He never misses an opportunity to teach me something new so I can get better and he is really fun and funny.”
While Leah is thankful for what her parents do for her, they couldn’t be prouder.
“We are very proud of Leah,” her parents said. “She spent her first couple years living in a Russian orphanage before we adopted her and brought her home. It’s been a long road for her, but we always say she is the bravest person we know and it really is true. She has an energy and spirit that is hard to match and she never gives up.
“It was not a surprise for us to see her fully dedicated to hockey and participating every chance she could get on the ice because she always gives it her all. She even attended practices that were not her own because she just couldn’t get enough. We truly admire her perseverance. We are amazed by her fearlessness in everything that she does and the amount of hard work she puts into anything she takes on. She is truly an amazing girl.”
They’re also thankful for the foundation.
“We are thankful to Snider for providing such a quality program for Philadelphia youth,” they said. “The coaches go above and beyond for these kids and they really care.
“The Breakaway Scholarship is an absolute blessing. We are proud and honored for Leah to be a recipient, but we are just really grateful for the program as a whole.”
