Teenage Seagrave resident plays for the Jamaican hockey team

COURTNEY McCLURE, for The Standard

SCUGOG: Zechariah Thomas, 18, a local resident of Seagrave, Ontario, is making part of his dream come true this year.

When Zechariah was 13, he and his family were vacationing in Jamaica. On their way home, Zechariah bought a Jamaican Olympic Hockey Team shirt. He told his parents he would make the team one day. On October 17th, 2021, Zechariah’s dream came true.

According to Zechariah, representatives for the Jamaican national ice hockey team reached out to him. He assumed they had seen his stats during games and figured he would make a great addition to the team.

The Jamaican National Ice Hockey Team is the Men’s Hockey Team of Jamaica. They are controlled by the Jamaican Olympic Ice Hockey Federation, which is associated with the International Ice Hockey Federation.

Zechariah currently plays for the Caledon Admirals. The Caledon Admirals are a Junior A hockey team based in Caledon, Ontario.

He plays defence with the Jamaican Olympic Hockey Team during international tournaments, at least once or twice per year.

While playing for multiple teams over the years, he has had to overcome many racial comments. “At most of my hockey games, I was the only black player on the ice,” stated Zechariah. He was called “monkey,” and people told him to get off the ice and play basketball instead. “I quickly learned to grow a thick skin and ignore all the haters,” explained Zechariah.

He is very excited to continue his hockey journey and hopes to make it to the NHL one day.

The Jamaican team is aiming to bring their hockey team to the 2026 Olympics.

#hockey #sport