Laois entrepreneur teen is on Ireland ice hockey team set for Canada

A Laois teenager who has been selected for the Irish ice hockey team, has launched a cool business to help pay for a tournament in Canada.

Rossa Bracken is only 17 but is already successful as an award winning nature photographer, often taking pictures in the Slieve Bloom mountains near his home in Mountrath.

He has now revealed two more surprising strings to his bow.

Rosse has been playing ice hockey for the past four years, and is launching an alcohol free bar as a business.

“We were on holiday in Alberta 4 years ago coincidentally September too and I went to an ice hockey game and was hooked.

“When we came home my father looked up the nearest hockey place and saw there was one in Kilkenny called Kilkenny Storm run by Paul Cummins who was winner of 2024's Ireland's Fittest Family. He runs a very successful club from an old school hall.

“I instantly felt comfortable and was excited by it all.

“There are no ice rinks in the Republic of Ireland 2 in the North, Kilkenny Storm is both ice and inline hockey inline is on rollerblades. We have to do a 7 hour round trip to Dundonald outside Belfast for an hour's training once a month on ice,” he said.

He has been offered an exciting opportunity to represent his country on the Team Ireland Ice Hockey u18's in Vancouver, Canada.

“I was very surprised to be selected as we get so little ice time due to the fact there are no rinks here. That's something Paul has been campaigning for many years.

“The good news is now there's a huge development happening in Dublin soon so that will be great for us. Even our Inline home games are played in Cork as there's no facilities in Kilkenny despite the club representing Ireland in all age categories in Europe, the US and Canada. The ladies team are in Iceland at the moment.

“I love the sport but it does mean a lot of travelling around the country thanks to my parents,” he said.

Rossa needs to raise about €2,000 to pay for the trip. He is hoping for a sponsor to come on board, but the entrepreneurial teen is also trying to raise the money with his business venture.

It is in the form of a very lovely retro caravan the he has converted into an alcohol free bar for teens.

“I started SoBaR this year. My idea for the business came after spending hours hanging around with my friends (older teens) in town with nowhere to go.

“Coffee shops are too expensive and time limits on how long you can sit over a drink.

“I had an idea once I saw this retro 1982 caravan for sale that I could renovate it and turn it into a teen mobile bar and create a festival feel or vibe around it. It would be run by teens for teens.

“I wanted the drinks to be interesting and fun so I copied the Dirty Soda trend in America but with a lot less sugar and additives.

“I introduced an 80's trend of Ice cream floats, your favourite soft drink with ice cream and shots of flavoured syrups topped with real cream.

“I want it to be sustainable by using zero plastics and using paper and glass even though the drinks would look better in transparent plastic.

“I'm getting great feedback so far but at the moment Iced Coffees still are the frontrunner.

“The vibe and music is 80's and a new snack has been added, chocolate banana dip, frozen banana dipped in chocolate. It's delicious.

“My dream is that this becomes a safe place for older teens to hang out without judgement

“It's very easy to judge groups of teens in a negative view as supervised teen events are called a 'group' of teens but on their own hanging about they get tagged as 'gangs' of teens. There should be more alternatives to play parks and shopping centres as hang out met up spaces.

“It's early days but so far my project has been met with positivity and support. I have been accepted to the Social Entrepreneurs Ideas Academy programme so they see it as a niche for teenage social development.

“I have deferred my college place as I'm only 17 and going to try work on developing Sobar and my photography for the coming year,” Rossa said.

Last May, Rossa won Young Photographer of the Year through the Nature Photography Award category, for a photo he took when he was aged 12, of a lamb and a fox together.

Rossa also won Junior Photographer in a photography competition run by Teagasc in 2025 for his photo of a red squirrel. He runs teen 'Get Out!' photography workshops through Cruinniú na nÓg.

The Team Ireland trip to Vancouver runs from Oct 21 to 31 and is all self funded.

Equipment and flights approx €2000, while Rossa is grateful that host families accommodate the players to save them money.

To enquire about SoBar or sponsorship for Rossa, email him on [email protected], or phone 085 162 2342.

Check out the SoBar at Mountrath youth theatre every Friday from 10am -4pm .