Zachary Correia, a second-year Police Foundations student at Humber Lakeshore, has wanted to be a police officer since a Mother's Against Drunk Driving (MAD) officer visited his sixth-grade class, in case hockey doesn’t work out.
“She was just telling us about policing and drunk driving and from there on it just stuck with me. I just wanted to become an officer,” Correia said.
He is currently a member of the Before the Badge Program which is an internship with the Peel Regional Police, with the long-term goal of hoping to be a cadet or constable there.
Hockey is also a huge part of Correia’s life as he’s been playing since he was four, has played for the school team, is a defenceman coach for a junior team in Bradford, has represented Portugal in ball hockey and Midnight Express, one of Canada’s top teams.
“I played at Nationals with them in Winnipeg and we actually won gold. I’m hoping to make Team Canada for the 2026 World Championships, but I was on the under-18 Team Canada for ball hockey,” he said.
“Hockey is my little safe place. When I’m on the ice, I don’t think about anything. I just think about the game and to win the game is the end goal,” Correia said.
“It’s been a lot of days in the gym, a lot of hard days, but there’s also a lot of good days, like when you lift up that trophy at the end of the season, it’s all worth it,” he said.
