A company co-founded less than a year ago by a 17-year-old Okotokian has partnered with two local sports organizations.

d.RT has become the preferred vendor for the Okotoks Minor Hockey Association and the Okotoks Oilers Athletic Association.

The clothing brand was founded by Dylan Thompson, his sister Paula Brunson, and her husband Brian Brunson in November of 2020, based on the trouble Dylan had finding comfortable suits that fit him as he grew up playing hockey in Okotoks.

As well as being the go-to brand for the OMHA and OOAA directly, athletes from both organizations will have access to discount codes for d.RT’s website.

For Thompson, partnering with local hockey associations was one of those full-circle moments.

“My family has always been about giving back to the community and helping when we can, so me and my sister sat down and were thinking ‘how can we use this company to give back to the community?’ Our first thought was the hockey associations, we have a lot of athletic apparel and some things like that so we thought it’d fit perfectly for something like that.”

With the new partnership, the company has moved away from strictly men’s wear in order to serve the greater athletic community.

“We’ve pretty much gone in and taken some pieces we’ve previously designed and created some new things because the Raiders team, which is the girls’ team in Okotoks, they wanted stuff too, so we kind of had to reinvent some of the stuff to make women’s clothes too,” says Thompson.

With that being the case, they came up with things like sweatpants and shirts that can be used for men’s and women’s for dryland training.

Thompson says it’ll provide uniformity off the ice as well as on.

“When you have something that the rest of the team has, you all have something in common. Nobody’s sticking out like a sore thumb, you kind of all jive together.”

The creation of the brand alone was a big deal for Thompson, but to create this connection to sports organizations and athletes in his own hometown means a lot to him.

“I kind of saw a way where I could give back to that personal connection. For me, playing hockey over the years in Okotoks, I was quite excited that they were willing to partner with us because it’s pretty personal to me. It makes it even more special that way.”

 

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