Matthew was nominated for the contest by his hockey coach, who shared: 

“In the time I have known Matthew, he has acted more like a young man than like a 9-year-old from a maturity perspective. Despite his teammates having their father figures around, Matthew has never been anything but respectful to his mother and understands that she is his rock while dad is keeping our nation safe. When games start to go south, he has never wavered in his effort or attitude, fighting to the final whistle every game. 

Since joining our team part way through the season, Matthew has been a leader both vocally and through his actions. In preparation for every game, Matthew is the first one with all of his gear on and makes sure to let his teammates know when their time is running short. Once on the ice, Matthew is often the one instructing his teammates when it is time to change the warmup drill. He makes sure that we are efficient and not wasting the short amount of time we are given. There have been times this season when Matthew has not gotten his fair share of playing time and he has held his head high and supported his teammates through it all.  Most recently, we played in a game where several kids did not get to play during an overtime/shootout period and nobody was more vocal in supporting their teammates than Matthew.”