Pleasant Valley is a place that celebrates who you are and where you come from. Whether that be someone from halfway across the world or a neighboring country on North America. That is true for junior Chris Mahoney.

Chris’ whole family is Canadian, he was even born in Canada. His mother Tena, father Todd and younger brother Nicholas were all born in Canada. On April 26, 2001 Chris was born in London, Ontario. He and his brother were raised there until 2006 when they finally moved to the United States.

Just like any move, this obviously wouldn’t be the easiest if changes. So Chris decided to join sports to meet new people and make friends in a new country.

Now most high schooler will play a sport like basketball, football or track. But Chris wanted to go back to his roots and heritage and play a sport that is more common in Canada. In the winter he gets to play his favorite sport, hockey. He plays for an adult league that competes at the TaxSlayer Center. When he is not busy playing hockey himself, he likes to cheer on his favorite team, the Toronto Maple Leafs who just recently got a third place finish in the regular season.

Now, hockey is interesting enough, but that’s not where the fun stops though. Once the hockey league has finished Chris still heads over to Moline for another unique activity. During the summer Chris heads over to Thunder Road Hobbies, a family owned business dedicated to racing, bashing and flying model cars, planes and trains. Chris is a part of the 1/8th scale remote control car racing league.

Even though he now lives in the United States, Chris stays deeply connected to his roots and birthplace. Celebrating his culture and heritage, something that we should all try and do.