While our neighbours south of the border try to figure just what is the American Dream nowadays, a couple of buddies from Barrie are embarking on their own Canadian Dream-and of course it involves hockey and giving back.
Michael Platten (25) and Steve Bourget (28) have been friends many years, working together at a western saddle customizing company as well as playing hockey at many levels in Ontario.
Like most Canadian guys, the two were discussing the national game at work but also trying to figure out how to help kids that didn’t have the opportunity they had the chance to play the game.
Platten says the idea of giving back to the game was speaking to them both and while they didn’t know how to get started, they knew they had to.
“We both played some Junior C and now have got in to just playing as much as we can recreationally,” said Platten. “We were saying that the game had been so great to us and gave us so many wonderful memories that we should try to give back to the game. We decided that we could design and sell clothes that would appeal to not only hockey players but also just regular Canadians who love the game.”
A donnybrook is a well-known term for a big fight, particularly used in hockey circles.
A chance viewing with a popular Canadian TV show on small town life gave Bourget the idea for the name.
“I was watching the cold opener for Letterkenny and saw them using the term donnybrook and I was just laughing and excited at the same time,” said Bourget. “The funny thing about it is we’re both naturally goalies so we don’t usually get into fights.”
The pair did their research and saw how many start-up companies of this nature come and go without making a plan.
An approach of going slow and taking it one day at a time is being taken as well as the focus of not getting rich off of this endeavour, but rather making sure the focus is always on kids and opportunity.
“We’ve been in touch with many teams and leagues in hopes of showcasing our product,” said Bourget. “But a main focus has been reaching out to the Newmarket Special Olympics and finding a way to sponsor their floor hockey team with jerseys. We were also recently contacted by a local goalie school to provide gear for them, so its starting to pick up for sure. Its nice because a portion of all of our sales will be donated to kid’s programs like KidSport or Jumpstart”
While Platten and Bourget can arrange to have custom jerseys done up for teams, the focus is on building the Donnybrook Hockey brand and continuing to get bigger.
The feeling is the bigger they get the more they can help.
“Right now we have t-shirts, hoodies and hats,” said Platten. “We’re going to get tank tops in the summer and eventually a woman’s line too. Our Lights Out Line is our current line and it’s the one we’re pushing the most. We say it a lot, but we want to go slow and not get bogged down with loans and such. We both work full-time still to help fund this and it’s a matter of walking and running at the same time.”
If you frequent hockey games on the weekend with your kids or attend games around Simcoe County, you’re likely to see the duo manning a table.
Their love and knowledge for the game as well as their passion to build Donnybrook keeps them busy all year.
“Watching other companies like Bar Down and Gong Show helps us stay focused,” said Bourget. “This is doable and the thought that one day this could be what we do to make a living is encouraging. Sometimes I sit and think of how much hockey I played as a kid and throughout the years and think, there’s no way it just ends at weekend games with the boys. There must be a reason the idea of giving back through hockey came to us, and now its time to go with it and do what we can.”
To find out more about Donnybrook Hockey, check out the website
