One of eight outstanding Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) members selected to receive bursaries from Dairy Farmers of Ontario in 2025
Luke Howard of the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Aurora Tigers has confirmed his commitment to join the NCAA Division I RIT Tigers in Rochester, NY.
The 6-foot-3 defenceman from Woodbridge had three goals, 10 assists and only one minor penalty in Aurora’s first 14 games.
“I’m very excited to further my hockey career and academics at RIT,” Howard told the OJHL. “This wouldn’t have been possible without the belief and confidence from all members of the Aurora Tigers organization and the development opportunities afforded to me from the OJHL.”
Howard signed in Aurora from the Toronto Nationals AAA organization ahead of the 2023-24 season.
“His dedication to growth – both on the ice and in the classroom – has been unwavering, and he exemplifies the qualities we strive to instill in our players.”
“Luke has been a valued member of our organization since joining us last year,” James Thomson, GM & Assistant Coach in Aurora, told the OJHL. “His dedication to growth – both on the ice and in the classroom – has been unwavering, and he exemplifies the qualities we strive to instill in our players. Luke is not only a strong leader but also a young man of character and integrity.
“We are incredibly proud of him for earning this commitment and look forward to continuing our work together before he takes this next important step in his career.”
As a member of the Tigers, Howard was one of eight outstanding Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) members selected to receive bursaries from Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO) in the amount of $6,000 each, to further their post-secondary education.
The bursary program is funded directly by MilkUP, DFO’s youth lifestyle brand, which recognizes young athletes who show leadership in building strong and healthy communities, demonstrate high academic achievement, are dedicated to and have a passion for hockey.
Former OJHLers on this year’ RIT roster include Ben Roger (Wellington), Christian Catalano (Newmarket, Caledon), Austin Brimmer (North York) and Zach Wigle (Oakville).
Congratulations to Luke and best of luck in the NCAA!
The Tigers host the neighbouring Newmarket Hurricanes on Friday night at the Aurora Community Centre.
About the OJHL – “League of Choice”
The Ontario Junior Hockey League is the largest Junior ‘A’ league operating under the auspices of the Canadian Junior Hockey League with 24 member clubs. A proud member of the CJHL and Ontario Hockey Association, the OJHL was originally named the Ontario Provincial Junior ‘A’ Hockey League and it was formed out of the Central Junior ‘B’ Hockey League in 1993-94. With a long and storied history of developing players for the next level, including U SPORTS, the NCAA, CHL, minor pro ranks and the NHL, the OJHL had more than 135 commitments in 2024-25, including 54 to NCAA Division 1 and 29 to the Ontario Hockey League. In addition, the OJHL had 39 OHL Affiliate Players who played 152 OHL games. Thirty-five OJHL alumni played in the NHL in 2025
Check out all our current commitments here: https://www.ojhl.ca/committments/
