It was a weekend when everyone left the Agrena a winner.
From seven to nine-year-olds bearing goodie bags with their hockey gear, MVPs wearing black toques marked with “Heart and Hussel” logos, to families who supported their team to the limit of their vocal chords – nobody went home empty-handed or without wonderful memories.
There were also a few lucky raffle winners, people like Tera Drews, who won a stick studded with so many loonies there could have been a competition to guess the number. At least 150 seemed to be the most popular guesstimate.
Then, of course, there were the tireless organizers of the Barrhead Novice Tournament 2012, the 21 parents who had devoted so much time and energy into putting fun into a hockey fundraiser.
Their efforts transformed the Agrena foyer into something resembling a fete or carnival, with tables set up offering hot dogs, juices and other goodies, as well as raffle tickets.
They were hoping to have raised a tidy sum for the two Barrhead novice teams, the Bruins and Thunder. The money will be split between them and help cover the cost of going to other tournaments.
One of the organizers, Barb Sabiston, said she was delighted at the community support over Saturday and Sunday.
“It has been very busy this weekend,” she said. “Many families turned out, probably about the number I expected.
“There were also a lot of donations from the community, which was really good to see.”
On the rink, eight teams participated: Barrhead Bruins, Barrhead Thunder, Westlock Rangers, Westlock Wild, Swan Hills Grizzlies, Hinton Novice Hitmen, Edmonton Northstars and Slave Lake Thunder. This amounted to 102 children aged between seven and nine, many of whom had one or two years’ experience on the ice.
Some of the players were barely taller than the hockey goals, but what they lacked in stature they made up for in heart.
Although called a novice tournament, the youngsters skated with skill and confidence to demonstrate they were no newcomers to the game. There were a few tumbles and probably some bruises, but nobody stayed down for long.
The games were competitive, even though the emphasis was more on fun than winning, and no trophies were at stake, just bragging rights.
Each team played three games. For the record, the Barrhead sides competed in one of the three finals, the Bruins beating Thunder 6-2. MVPs were Bruins’ Maddy Stoik and Thunder’s Kolby Miller.
They were chosen by the coach of the opposing team, each receiving a toque with “Heart and Hussel” marked on it. All players received a shower bag for shampoo and toiletries, and a necklace.
“The teams in the tournament were evenly matched which was good,” said Sabiston, who presented the MVP awards in the Bruins-Thunder match. “I think the children had a lot of fun, which was the main thing.”
While they had a lot of fun, they were also exhausted by their efforts.
Sabiston’s eight-year-old son, Hayden, went to bed early on Saturday night after his workout with the Bruins.
“He went to sleep before 8 p.m. which is unusual for him,” laughed Sabiston. “He was extremely tired.”
He also had some tales to tell his friends, including one about a collision with the referee.
“It upset him for a while, but he soon got over it,” said Sabiston. “He loves his hockey.”
Another organizer Tammara Miller, whose son Kolby plays for Thunder and will soon be eight, said hockey wasn’t the only attraction for children.
“They also liked the hot dogs,” she said.
Miller was well placed for such an observation, since she managed the hot dog table on Saturday.
“The children also got goodie bags, which included a soft hockey puck, some chocolate and juice,” she said.
For anyone wanting a pictorial record of the weekend, Lorette Kisinski and Michael Neville, from Athabasca-based Kisville Photography, were on hand in the lobby selling photographs of players in action.
“We’ve been very busy over the last two days,” said Kisinski. “A lot of people wanted photographs.”
Early on Sunday afternoon, families began drifting out of the Agrena to the car park which had been packed for two days, bringing the memorable weekend to a close.
