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Help Cason, a Rare Talent, Play for the 12U AA Jr. Panthers! ❤️
All funds will go directly toward Cason’s 2025-2026 hockey season with the Florida Jr. Panthers 12u AA team. You can help in a way that you want to do so. You can donate here, donate directly to the Jr. Panthers organization in Cason’s name, or buy a specific item (stick, gloves, shell, helmet, etc) if you prefer. Team fees ($5323.23) are due this week and all uniform gear has to be ordered in a little over a week.)
Hi! My name is Brittney McWilliams, and I’m fundraising for my incredible and talented 11-year-old son, Cason McWilliams, who was just selected to play for the 12U AA Junior Panthers travel hockey team for the 2025-2026 season. This a huge accomplishment for any young player, but especially extraordinary given Cason’s journey.
On May 5, 2025, Cason achieved one of his biggest dreams. He was selected for the 12U AA Florida Jr. Panthers, a competitive ice hockey travel team.
No one knew his name. He had no prior connection to the coaches or program. He hadn’t even skated at their facility before tryouts. He made the team based on pure talent, work ethic, and heart. But now, the financial burden is very real. Please take some time to read Cason’s story and consider donating.
How does a kid with no ice hockey knowledge or experience go from not being able to ice skate or lift the puck to shoot on ice, to making the 12U AA Jr Panthers 2025-2026 ice hockey travel team in a matter of 13 months?
✨ HERE IS CASON’S HOCKEY STORY...IT'S ONLY JUST BEGINNING. ✨
✨ FROM A SMALL TEXAS TOWN TO AA TRAVEL ICE HOKCEY IN FLORIDA
Cason didn’t grow up with skates on his feet or ice in his backyard. In fact, he comes from a tiny country town in Texas where hockey wasn’t even a known sport. But everything changed in March 2021, during a Spring Break trip. Cason and I went public skating for the first time and happened to catch a glimpse of a men’s league hockey game. He turned to me and said, "I want to play hockey."
At the time, I didn’t put much thought into what he said because I didn't know how that would ever be possible. We knew nothing about hockey. Boy were we missing out!
In January 2022, we moved to Florida and it just so happened that the only friend that talked to Cason at his new school played roller hockey. That one connection sparked something big and led Cason into what I call “hockey destiny”.
Not long after watching his friend play in a roller hockey game, something unexpected happened. Cason’s bike was stolen. But in a surprising twist, the same boy who took it came back and gave him money to replace it. Cason didn’t use that money for another bikE, instead, he used it to buy his very first pair of roller skates.
I wish I could say I was fully supportive right then, but honestly, I thought this would be just another childhood phase. I figured this would be something he’d try, then move on from it like every other sport he tried.
I was wrong. So, so wrong.
Cason taught himself how to skate. On his own time, with no lessons, no coach, just pure determination. By January 2023, he was ready, and he played his first roller hockey game.
Later that year, we met the director of our local ice rink and Cason laced up for his first Learn to Play ice hockey session. He could barely stay up on his skates, and he couldn’t lift the puck off the ice. On January 20, 2024, he played in his first official ice hockey game.
From there, something incredible happened.
Cason began training obsessively. He was accepted into RZR Hockey Academy, a program he technically wasn’t eligible for due to experience, but they made an exception after seeing his raw skill and fire. He started training 8 to 14 hours a day, skating, shooting, and studying the game like it was his job. He shot up to 1,000 pucks every single day, often refusing to take breaks even when I begged him to rest.
He studied film, did his stretches, watched NHL games, absorbed everything he could. If he wasn’t at our local rink, he was skating or shooting in our garage, turning it into his personal training ground.
His passion became unshakable. His progress has been jaw-dropping to me personally. I look at old videos and I keep crying because I can’t believe the progress he has made in such a short amount of time.
In May 2024, he tried out for the 12U A Warriors travel team. Not only did he make the team, he opened the season by scoring the very first goal. The team went on to become State Champions in February 2025.
But Cason didn’t stop there. He continued to train. And started wanting to change his eating habits and encouraging me to work out with him. He knew his moment to really show what he can do was just a few months away.
On May 5, 2025, we took a leap of faith and made the nearly 2.5-hour drive for Cason to try out for the 12U AA Junior Panthers. After the very first scrimmage, the Assistant Coach found us. A short time later, I was told they wanted to offer Cason a contract to join the team.
He didn’t know a single coach and none of them knew his name or where he came from. He had never skated at their facility before. He had no connections. He earned the spot on purely through heart, talent, and relentless effort.
✨ HIS PROGRESS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
In the past year of playing hockey, Cason has:
- Been selected to play for the 12U A Warriors travel team
- Played both forward and defense with incredible hockey IQ
- Scored the first goal of the 12U A Warriors 2024–2025 season
- Helped his team to be the 12U A State Champions and Division Champions
- Earned the nickname “Sniper” — with a 60 MPH wrist shot
- Became a Junior Coach at Skatium, helping with Learn to Play & Learn to Skate. He assists the coaches, runs skating drills for the Mites division (Yes! He runs his own section on the ice with minimal supervision!), and he helps skaters who need extra attention.
- Co-launched Next Level Hockey Academy with me to train beginner skaters
- Chosen to represent Florida in State Wars 2025.
- Selected to play with the 2012 birth year team, a year older than his actual birth year
- One of only 8 players selected to represent Florida in the State Wars 2013 Division
- Won the Florida State Wars Championship in July 2024
❤️ A STORY OF RESILIENCE BEHIND THE SCENES
What people don’t always see is what Cason has overcome just to be here.
- He had a tumor removal surgery (thankfully it ended up being benign after testing), but it scared us.
- He’s raised in a single-parent home and his father is not present in his life by choice.
- During the time I was laid off unexpectedly, he’s seen our car repossessed, eviction notices on our door, and heard me crying at night, wondering how I’ll keep his hockey dreams alive. He tells me “mom it will be okay, God will make a way.”
- On and off the ice, Cason has endured verbal and physical harassment, yet he never let that stop him from going to the rink to train and play the game he loves.
- He has been ridiculed, excluded, and even called the N-word, just for being a black boy playing hockey, a space where he’s often the only one who looks like him.
- He has severe asthma that keeps him sick a lot of the time, yet he still gets on the ice and pushes through the sickness.
But through it all, he keeps skating. Keeps smiling. Keeps believing. Cason remains focused, positive, and determined.
✨ HE'S A LEADER ON AND OFF THE ICE
- He volunteers, coaches, helps younger skaters, and dreams of creating a lane for other black boys in hockey, both roller and ice.
- He helped me run my home daycare to buy his first pair of roller hockey skates for off ice training.
- He recently launched his hockey cards selling business to help with his hockey expenses
- Maintains a 4.0 GPA student at his virtual academy
- He’s on track to graduate high school at just 15 years old
❤️ WHY WE ARE ASKING FOR HELP
This incredible opportunity comes with real financial costs, travel, training, gear, tournament fees, and more. As a single mom, I’m doing everything I can, and I hope to launch my new business soon as I just recently obtained my certifications, but we need help to make sure he can seize this opportunity before the deadline. Cason often feels inferior because most of the kids have a two parent household and don't seem to struggle financially. This breaks my heart as I am doing the best I can as a single mother who carries all the financial responsibilities on my shoulders alone. He has had to pass up several opportunities in the past and I really don't want him to have to pass up this remarkable opportunity.
EVERY SINGLE DOLLAR HELPS
All funds will go directly toward Cason’s 2025-2026 hockey season with the Florida Jr. Panthers 12u AA team:
- Initial Team fees - $ 5323.25 (Florida Jr. Panthers)
- Uniforms and off-ice gear
- Travel and tournament expenses
- Equipment and training
- Additional team fees
You can choose to donate here or buy a specific item (stick, glove, shell, helmet, etc) if you prefer.
Cason has earned this chance. We just need help getting him there.
If you believe in grit, heart, and big dreams, please consider donating or sharing this campaign. Thank you for supporting not just a player, but a young leader and role model in the making. Cason isn’t just chasing a dream for himself. He wants to open the door for other kids like him, to show them that they belong in roller and ice hockey too.
With sincere gratitude,
Brittney & Cason ❤️❤️
TAKE A LOOK AT SOME OF CASON'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS!
