On Saturday 22nnd January the Golden Minor Hockey A/B squad headed for their first tournament at Canal Flats. After an early start for most, including players, parents and coaches, they hit the ice with gusto only to be faced by a much older squad from Kimberley.
Undaunted they took to the ice again, Elk Valley, a more evenly matched pairing that resulted in pucks in the back of the net for Golden. Also, this being the first ever tournament for the four to six-year-olds, they started playing as a team rather than the traditional gaggle.
In the last game although fatigue had started to show in those little legs and they had lost squad members due to illness they battled on and still remained competitive to the bitter end. They were averaging 30-minutes ice time each which is more than the big guys in the NHL and proportionally skating further on those developing legs than the big guys.
We as coaches and parents were delighted, proud and excited as the team was rewarded with the “Most Sporting Like Team” in the tournament, our first trophy.
In post-game interviews with Emma Casey she said “ I enjoyed playing with my team” and on a similar note Rex Baxendale, after scoring his first competitive goal said “I scored the goal with my team”. If nothing else from the day it created a team bond and I am sure some highly paid professional players of sport could learn a few things from the attitude, dogged determination and pure enjoyment that was seen on the faces of our “Future Rockets”.
Come support them at our home tournament on Saturday 5th March.
Well done all of you from proud coaches and parents.
~Submitted
