Kennady Bruun, co-founder of HERo Hockey (middle) is pictured on the playground, along with the many others who have shown support for the brand, including a Canadian hockey legend (Photo Credit: HERo Hockey Facebook page/ Peace Wapiti Public School Division)

By Shane Clausing

HERo Hockey

Sexsmith family launches HERo Hockey with hopes of growing women’s game

May 30, 2021 | 7:00 AM

A Grade 5 student from Sexsmith is seeing lots of success with a company she and her mom launched.

Kennady Brunn and her mom Jill founded the brand HERo Hockey in March.

The goal of the clothing line and brand is all about playing for HER and helping to bring awareness to the women’s game.

“HERo Hockey kind of started when Kennady and I were watching one of the women’s games. It was a really poorly broadcasted game and it wasn’t a great view,” explained Jill.

“We started talking about how women are poorly represented in the game of hockey. Then we decided we would like to help change that, so that’s how we came up with HERo Hockey.”

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While there has been some growth in the women’s game over the last year with the PWHPA (Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association) Dream Gap Tour, which broadcasts games on Sportsnet, and coverage of the NWHL (National Women’s Hockey League), Jill says there is still lots of work to do with growing the women’s game and making it more mainstream.

“Kennady has been playing hockey since she was six years old and has (usually) been on a boys team. As she’s getting older, she’s being a bit more aware of the sport around her,” said Jill.

“She mentioned at one point, ‘how come when I go into the sports stores, all of the advertisements and apparel is geared towards males?’ That’s kind of why we’ve created this, to help bring that awareness.”

Kennady tells EverythingGP, with their main goal to try and help grow the women’s game, they want to be involved in getting more girls on skates and playing.

“We started this thing called the HERo Fund. Five per cent of my profits go directly towards the HERo Fund and along with any donations or tips,” explained Kennady. “All that money will go towards girls who can’t afford registration fees, or equipment fees (and hopefully that) helps more girls on the ice.”

Currently, Jill is a member of the hockey board in Sexsmith, and says she’ll be working with the All Peace Hockey League Association to find girls who could use the money, so they can get on the ice.

If the clothing line gets bigger, Jill and Kennady hope to grow the fund across Alberta and then hopefully Canada if it can get to that level.

Since the launch of the clothing line back in March, residents in the Town of Sexsmith have rallied around Kennady and the brand.

Many classmates, teammates, friends and residents of Sexsmith have purchased the gear and have worn it proudly.

Jill says Kennady’s hockey coach for this season even purchased her entire team a HERo Hockey shirt as a year-end gift to show his support.

The biggest moment for the two, however, was receiving a video message from Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser, international hockey’s all-time leading scorer, who wore the gear and showed her support.

They sent a hoodie to Wickenheiser after a former teammate of hers reached out. Because Wickenheiser is a big advocate for the women’s game, the former teammate felt it was a good idea to send it her way.

Jill says Kennady’s siblings, Stratton who is in Grade 3, and, Blake who is in Grade 1 have also been a big help with the clothing line.

You can learn more about HERo Hockey at their website.