INDIANAPOLIS — Reece Tofaute turned his love of hockey and passion for helping into a learning experience for others.
For 10 years, Reece has helped coach the Indy Twisters, a hockey team for kids and adults facing physical challenges and developmental disabilities like autism and ADHD.
"My favorite part is when you get to see the kids achieve their first goal that they had set originally," he said.
Inspired by his father's love of hockey, Reece started skating when he was just three years old.
"There's just something about gliding on the ice," he said.
And when he was seven years old, Reece started teaching others.
"Carter Gordon was the first kid that I tried to teach when I was seven years old," Reece said.
Carter said Reece was a great coach who made hockey fun.
"Getting to see his eyes and face light up when he, for the first time, got his feed on the ice," Reece said. "It was the first experience I had with teaching the kids, and it's the one that's stuck with me probably the most."
Over the years, Reece has coached the Indy Twisters in games and tournaments across Central Indiana, giving some of the athletes their first chance to win a medal.
"You get the satisfaction of seeing all the smiles on people's faces and lightening up the attitude of everyone in the room, and a kid makes their first goal," he said. "Helping people, in general, is something that's definitely kind of just part of me."
Reece is just days away from graduating from Carmel High School. He plans to continue helping and teaching young people by studying music education at Butler University.
