‘She was the happiest she’d ever been’: Athletic and trades foundation honours crash victim’s legacy

Kaydance Ford was a passionate and determined teenager.

“She’s probably best known for screaming at her teammates to just keep going, and stay positive during games, and having her music blasting on her speaker while she danced down the hall,” her mother Jessica said.

Kaydance Ford was one of four teens killed alongside their coach while driving home from a school softball tournament in Dorchester in May 2025. Saturday marks one year since the accident.

Kaydance’s family, with her many jerseys displayed proudly behind them outside their Elmwood home, have started the Kaydance Ford Athletic and Trades Foundation to try and carry on her legacy.

“When she put herself into sports and trades, we saw her flourish. She was the happiest she’d ever been, so we want to make sure that all students have those opportunities,” said Jessica, who is the driving force behind the Foundation.

Kaydance’s Foundation is very hands-on, offering grief counselling and life coaching for teens, filling a 250 item wish list of items, everything from wrenches to team jerseys, for 14 schools in Grey-Bruce, and partnering with Black Magic Racing and Full Throttle Motor Speedway for Blueprints to Burnouts, where three high school shop programs get to maintain and fine-tune a race car.

Walkerton District Community School’s number 22 car, an ode to Kaydance, won the inaugural race two weeks ago. There is also a student shed, where kids in need can simply ask for donated work boots or cleats for a sport or trade.

“If students want to try out for a team, or they want to go and do a co-op, but they can’t afford a certain sports item or work boots or something, then they come see us, and we make sure that they have them,” said Jessica.

Kaydance’s mother is also advocating for an end to teachers having to drive athletes and students to some sports or outside of school activities.

“We want to see kids on buses. Coaches and teachers shouldn’t be driving kids to their sports things. So, we want to see kids on buses. We want to see some policies changed. We want to see the government put money where it needs to be,” she said.

Jessica says Kaydance was working towards becoming an electrician. She says the carpentry class at Walkerton District Community School was building a shed for Kaydance to wire in the weeks before the accident.

Sadly, she never got to finish it, but her memory will live on through her family, friends and her Athletic and Trades Foundation.

“We wanted her memory, her name, and her spirit to be remembered. So, what better way to do it, than do it with her passions,” her mom said.

You can learn more about Kaydance, and her Foundation, at the Kaydance Ford Athletic & Trades Foundation.