My name is Luba Toker- Engelstain. I am 13 years old. I have been born and still live in Israel. My father and grandfather both played hockey, and hockey became my favorite sport. I started playing when I was 6. There are only a couple of ice rinks in Israel, and it is hard to find time when ice is available, so I trained mostly on roller blades. I started playing with older boys when I was 8.

Unfortunately, women's hockey is not strong in Israel: there are only a handful of girls who play on different teams and they are not in my age group. My father and his friends, former professional hockey players, say that I have talent. I need to get into professional women's hockey, and it doesn't exist in Israel. The best hockey academy for girls is The Hockey Training Institute in Ontario, Canada. Their website is http://www.htistars.com/ I was invited by the Academy to try out. After training with them for a week, I received an invitation to study and train in the Academy starting in September 2017. The tuition is $25,000 a year. I have a large family, and my parents can't afford to pay for me.

When I am on ice, it makes me feel strong and like there is nothing that I can't achieve. I want to train hard and become the best that I can be. I want other girls to see that girls can play all sports and be as good as boys and better! I also want for the whole world to see that my country, Israel, is great in so many things - even hockey! Please help me make my dream a reality!