About Leah
Leah Dyck (left) and Jacob Moverare (right) at the 2017 World Junior Summer Showcase at the USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan.
My name is Leah Dyck and I started this community outreach program because there's an imminent need for it. I’ve been an avid volunteer in my community ever since I attended Georgian College back in 2009. Since then, I’ve completed a diploma in Advertising, and a post-graduate certificate in both Social Media (Algonquin College) and Fundraising Resource & Development (Georgian College), in which I also received honors. I completed my program’s internship in Georgian College’s Fundraising Department in which I was first exposed to major gifts and endowments. But when I attended the Advertising program, I started and ran a fundraiser in support of the Barrie Women & Children Shelter, Season’s Centre for Grieving Children, and Ratanak International.
Social Media & Sports
After College, my interest in social media and sports peaked at an all-time high and I started writing for a small hockey magazine called HockeyNow (they offered me a job after I submitted an article on Jarmo Kekalainen’s draft strategy. This is when I got my first real, in-person interview with a hockey player… and I didn’t even know who it was until I got to the MasterCard Centre and they told me it was both Hayley Wickenheiser and Marie Philip-Poulin. This is one of my top memories to date. My second story ended up getting changed to that month’s cover story (October 2015) and it went on to become the magazine’s second, most-read cover story that year.
Forced to cover women’s hockey only - with the odd topic changing to major junior here and there, I decided to write for The Hockey Writers for a couple of years instead. It was during this time that I attended many hockey events, including the 2017 NCAA Frozen Four in Chicago:
Hayley Wickenheiser (left) and Marie Philip-Poulin (right) at a press conference at the MasterCard Centre in December 2015, announcing the first female professional hockey player sponsorship, which was from Gatorade Canada.
I’ve covered two NHL Scouting Combines (2016 & 2019), a couple of World Junior Summer Showcases in Plymouth, MI, and five consecutive Buffalo Sabre’s Prospect Challenges- which is when I got to interview Rasmus Dahlin on camera.
(22) Devin Tringale (left), (14) Alexander Kerfoot (middle), and Head Coach Ted Donato (right) at the United Centre, at the 2017 Frozen Four in Chicago, IL.
In February and March of 2020, I had the amazing opportunity of volunteering for the TKO FIS Snowboard World Cup at Blue Mountain, Ontario, as a media member. This event featured more than 100 world-class snowboarders from 17 different countries, and I was able to interview many of team Canada right on the hill in the days before the big race, as well as at the race itself. This was very exciting for me as it was the first time I worked with current Olympic athletes.
I’ve now done more than 100 athlete interviews, and I’ve personally interviewed more than half of team Canada and team USA preceding the 2019 World Juniors – as well as Canada Snowboard’s team preceding The World Cup. Unfortunately, the pandemic has forced a lot of events to shut down for a while, but hopefully, the world can start going back to normal again soon!
Leah Dyck (left) and Rasmus Dahlin (right) at the Harborcenter in Buffalo, NY.