Brooke Henderson and Neil Doef are great ambassadors for the Town of Smiths Falls.
The athletic prowess and the remarkable character they have both displayed over the years have helped shine such a positive light on the community.
Brooke, 21, who is now the winningest Canadian professional golfer in history with nine career victories, enjoys spending time at home with her family and friends – including one of her besties, Neil.
“Love spending time with you,” she recently tweeted under a photo of the pair of them together while home for a week in June.
It had Twitter all … well, atwitter, wondering who the guy was in this photo.
Let’s talk about that young man.
Neil Doef, 22, attends Princeton on a hockey scholarship. It was a bittersweet story for this Smiths Falls native, who sustained a career-ending back injury while playing for Team Canada East in 2014. At the time some, including his doctors, said that he would never walk again.
Through his tenacity and work ethic, Neil has recovered beyond all expectations and no longer needs a wheelchair.
Despite the devastating injury, Princeton honoured Neil’s scholarship and he has completed his sophomore year. The Ivy League school made him a member of the men’s hockey team, where he continues to win accolades, including most recently receiving All-Academic Team Honours by ECAC Hockey. This spring he was also presented with the team’s 1941 Championship Trophy, given each year to a “varsity player who best reflected the winning spirit of the 1941 championship team and in so doing was an inspiration to his teammates.
BROOKE’S STORY
The Smiths Falls dynamic sports’ duo was born in 1997 (Neil in February, Brooke in September) to supportive and loving families in Smiths Falls: Dave and Darlene Henderson, and Bruce and Bobbi-Jean Doef. They attended the same elementary school, (Chimo Elementary) and high school, (Smiths Falls District Collegiate Institute).
