RI Hockey Hall of Fame’s Murphy Brings Young Athletes to Top Sporting Events Through Nonprofit

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

 

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Murphy (left) appeared with GoLocal News Editor Kate Nagle on GoLocal LIVE.

Digit Murphy, founder of “Play It Forward Sport,” appeared on GoLocal LIVE where she spoke to the importance of exposing young Rhode Islanders to intercollegiate and professional athletics. 

On February 22, students at the Leo Savoie Elementary School in Woonsocket will have the opportunity to attend the Providence College Women’s Hockey “Senior Day" -- and spend time on the PC campus. 

“Everyone talks about engaging youth, especially with college sports — we’ve got so many great college programs here,” said Murphy, who herself was Ivy League Player of the Year while playing for the Cornell ice hockey team, before eventually returning to Rhode Island to coach the Brown University Bears women’s team.

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“At the end of the day, the idea for ‘Campus Kids’ came in because when I was at Brown, we had a lot of fans,” said Murphy. “The idea was, how can we get kids and community all together — the Play It Forward Sport Nonprofit uses education and sports as a platform for leadership.”

Play It Forward’s Mission:
 
* Bring young athletes to intercollegiate and professional athletic events so that young girls and boys know these opportunities are available to them. 

* Support professional sports leagues by working with their athletes to find supplemental employment opportunities so that they can afford to play. 

* Educate, support and mentor coaches at all levels and provide them with the tools they need to succeed as coaches.

* Educate, support and mentor players at all levels and provide them with the tools they need to succeed as leaders.

 

Related Slideshow: 2019 RI Hockey Hall of Fame Inductees

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Brian Boucher

Selected in the first round of the NHL Draft in 1995 by the Philadelphia Flyers, the Woonsocket native and former Mount St. Charles goalie played 13 seasons in the NHL.

He holds the league record with five straight shutouts and 332 consecutive scoreless minutes during the 2003-04 season.

He is currently an analyst for NBC Sports. 

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Jack Capuano 

An All-American defenseman at Maine, the Cranston native turned to coaching after playing for three NHL teams.

He coached the New York Islanders for seven seasons and is now the associate coach of the Florida Panthers.

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Brother Adelard Beaudet

A founder and coach of the iconic Mount St. Charles Academy team, Brother Adelard helped organize and nurture high school hockey in Rhode Island after emigrating from Quebec in 1911.

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Malcolm Greene Chace

A world-class tennis and ice polo player in the 1890s, Chace eventually switched to ice hockey and introduced and promoted the game in New England and the Northeast.

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Brian Burke

Born in Providence, Burke grew up in Minnesota.

He returned to Rhode Island to attend Providence College, where he was captain of the hockey team.

He has had a three-decade career as an NHL executive, building a Stanley Cup winner with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007.

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Pete Demers 

After starting out with the Providence Reds, Providence native Demers went on to spend 34 seasons as a trainer for the Los Angeles Kings.

He has a plaque in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

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Judge James Dooley

A leading sports figure in Rhode Island, Dooley was the founder and owner of the Providence Reds, as well as a founder of the Canadian-American (Can-Am) Hockey League, which later evolved into the American Hockey League.

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Tom Eccleston

Regarded as one of the game’s great teachers and motivators in Rhode Island, Eccleston won multiple state championships as the coach at Burrillville High School.

He coached for eight seasons at Providence College and led the Friars to their first ECAC title and the NCAA final four in 1964.

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David Emma

A three-time All-Stater at Bishop Hendricken and two-time All-American at Boston College, Emma won the Hobey Baker Award in 1991, the only Rhode Islander to do so.

The pride of Cranston played for the U.S. in the 1992 Olympics.

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Margaret Degidio 'Digit' Murphy

After a great career as a player at Cornell, the Cranston native won 318 games as Brown’s women’s coach.

She has been a tireless advocate for women’s hockey and women’s sports for two decades on the national and international stage.

 
 

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