Westlock can hold its head high after last weekend’s Bantam ‘B’ Provincial Hockey Tournament at the Rotary Spirit Centre.
Although the local boys watched the playoff round from the stands, having been eliminated with a 1-2 record in the round-robin, the event itself was a testament to the quality of the volunteers who put the tournament together.
Not to mention the facility itself.
The call of “nice barn” that came during the opening ceremonies, when MC Chuck Keller noted this was the first (hopefully the first of many) provincial tournaments held in the new facility is an indication that, as promised, we have a top-notch recreation centre in this community.
For all the controversy that has surrounded the construction of the Spirit Centre over the past several years, which we won’t get into here, we do have a first-rate facility here in town.
It has come at a cost — the most recent municipal budget with all its belt-tightening and the higher taxes that have come with it are testament to that — but it’s hard to put a price on the kind of community pride that comes with it.
Knowing there are people in larger rural centres than this one — teams at the tournament came from places like Olds and Okotoks — look at the Spirit Centre and get a little jealous puts a bit of a feather in our caps.
The real feather in our caps, however, is the dedication of the people who volunteered and continue to volunteer to make events like this possible — heck, even to make the Spirit Centre itself possible.
Almost anything good that happens in a community is driven in no small part by volunteers who ask, “If not me, who?” This tournament, all the minor sporting organizations, all the cultural organizations and all the service groups in town were made possible by volunteers.
We can look at the $15 million plus budget for the Spirit Centre and wonder where all the money went, but that attitude belies the value that we have received.
The young players who took in a memorable tournament last weekend won’t be questioning if it was all worth it, and neither will young players for several generations to come.
