Toronto's Prasanthan Aruchunan, 17, first in Ontario to win NHL scholarship

'If I can do it, you guys can do it,' winner tells other youth in his community

By Taylor Simmons, Marivel Taruc, CBC News Posted: Apr 11, 2016 7:31 PM E

Toronto's Prasanthan Aruchunan is making history.

The 17-year-old from Westview Centennial Secondary School is the first student in Ontario to receive the National Hockey League scholarship from the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

It's an academic scholarship awarded to a student in the NHL's official youth development program, Hockey is for Everyone (HIFE), who has achieved at least a 3.0 GPA. 

A criterion easily met by Aruchunan, who maintains a 94 per cent average.

If that's not impressive enough, he plans to use the scholarship to study mechanical engineering at the University of Waterloo.

"I just have a passion for building stuff...and hopefully I'll be the first guy to invent a hybrid airplane one day," Aruchunan said.

He also has a passion for hockey, a feeling that grew after he first played the game in Grade 3.

Aruchunan's family moved to Canada from Sri Lanka when he was a young child, settling in Toronto's Jane-Finch neighbourhood.

He eventually joined the Hockey Education Reaching Out Society (HEROS), an after-school program that gives kids from low-income and at-risk families a chance to play the game.

"The first day on the ice ... I was like falling all over the place," he said. "But the mentors just kept pushing me, they kept telling me that if I never give up then I'll be better one day, and look where I'm at now."

Tony Wray is the program's coordinator and has known Aruchunan since he started at HEROS.

"We just support in the background to make sure that they overcome some of the barriers, whether it's accessing some additional hockey time, whether it's accessing tutoring, whatever they need," Wray said.

'It was unbelievable'

Not only did Aruchunan find a love for the game, but he also said hockey gave him a sense of belonging.

Now, on top of that, hockey is helping him achieve his dreams. Wray had the opportunity to deliver the good news.

"He's like, 'You just won the scholarship,'" Aruchunan said. "I was just freaking out at home. I was jumping up and down, I gave my mom a hug and it was unbelievable."

While speaking with CBC News Monday, Aruchunan's mother was able to watch him skate for the first time.

She speaks little English, but smiled as she watched her son glide over the ice. 

The mother of the 2016 National Hockey League scholarship winner Prasanthan Aruchunan came to the ice Monday to watch her son skate for the first time. (CBC)

"She's very proud of me," Aruchunan said. "At first she was kind of scared that I would break a leg or two cause it's ice, right, and back in Sri Lanka we don't play with ice or anything."

From no ice at all, to the NHL scholarship winner, Aruchunan's come a long way.

Even though he's excited to start his post-secondary career, he still plans to give back.

He already mentors kids in the HEROS program, giving them the same sense of belonging he found on the ice.

"If I can do it, you guys can do it as well," he said, offering tips for other young students. "Keep working hard, keep pushing forward and one day you'll be successful."