The Tri-Port Wild female minor hockey organization held its annual awards ceremony at the Broughton Curling Club in Port McNeill this year, which featured speeches from the coaches, a banquet dinner, awards being handed out, and lots of photos snapped.
Tri-Port Female Minor Hockey Coordinator/Intro Girls Coach Lisa Brown kicked off the evening by welcoming the large crowd of players, friends and family, thanking them for coming out to celebrate the 2017-2018 season.
“This has been an amazing season, and I’ve heard from lots of the girls that they’ve been missing hockey, so that’s a good sign,” laughed Brown. “This season we had two female hockey groups — the Intro Girls had 24 players, many of them brand new to hockey, and we had a Midget Wild travelling team who definitely had some successes this year. Overall it was a fantastic hockey season, which we are celebrating tonight by pointing out our volunteers, who were the foundation for making the season as awesome as it was, and the players.”
Brown thanked the Tri-Port executive, Ice Coordinator Shana Marshall, and Alison Mercer, the referee coordinator and coaching development coordinator, for all their hard work this season, giving them thank you cards and chocolates.
She then handed out a few special awards, which were as follows.
Special awards:
Referee of the Year – Brooke Mercer.
Volunteer of the Year – Tricia Ewen.
#1 Wild Fan Award – Tyson Whitney/Terry Whitney.
Port McNeill Downpour Women’s Hockey Bursary – Jessica Wadhams.
Tri-Port Intro Girls Head Coach Ryan Humphrey came on stage after the intermission and handed out awards to his players.
Tri-Port Intro Girls awards:
Alexa Rushton – Awesome attitude.
Alexssa Badger – Tiny but tough.
Caleigh McLaughlin – Digger.
Chelsie Russell – Flash.
Elenah Hunchuk – Plays with heart.
Emily Henschke – Sniper.
Emily McGill – Defensive dynamo.
Emma Clair – All-around athlete.
Hanna Lefebrve – Rookie to rockstar.
Jerzie Cheetham – First-class leader.
Keona Olney – Most dedicated.
Kiara Miller – Heart and hustle.
Kilynn Wilson – Sweet and scrappy.
Laurie Crouse – Perfect positioning.
Liv Humphrey – Team spirit.
Madelyn Tolmie – She’s got game.
Mecca Humphrey – Dangler.
Megan Patterson – Heads up play.
MJ Lawler – Most improved.
Scarlet Tanaka – Eye of the tiger.
Sydney Greer – Most determined.
Trinity McGinn – A+ blueliner.
Winona Stead – Most sportsmanlike.
Tri-Port Midget Wild Head Coach Mike Bell was up next.
He spoke briefly about how the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team’s tragic bus accident affected him personally, before moving on to the awards.
“I’d like to thank everyone for coming out tonight,” Bell began, “I stepped in out of the blue and quickly saw what a well oiled machine this organization was — I was told last minute by Serena (Foldy) they were in urgent need of a coach in a hurry, so after talking with my wife, we decided to give it a go. It’s been an incredible experience all year. These girls were outstanding and a pleasure to coach. I’d like to thank Lisa for her dedication to the female program, you’re amazingly enthusiastic, and I can only see this spiralling forward in a great way for years to come for all the girls on the North Island. Our team manager, Serena, your organizational skills helped me move forward as I came on to this team, and I can’t thank you enough.”
Midget Wild Awards:
Mandy Foldy – Crease clearer.
Bree-Anna Henderson – “Ovie hands”.
Mackenzie Murgatroyd – Tazmanian devil.
Avary Miller – the Wall.
Madison Van Will – Rushing attack.
Taylor Ranger – Chirp champion.
Sonja Walkus – Spitfire.
Merrick Browne – Board battler.
Kaitlyn Wilson – Perfect position.
Jessica Wadhams – Breakaway star.
Chloe Noel – Head cheerleader.
Kerrigan Sharpe – Canadian sniper.
Esso Most Improved – Chloe Noel.
Esso Most Sportsmanlike – Bree-Anna Henderson.
Esso Most Dedicated – Mandy Foldy.
Wild Digger Award – Taylor Ranger and Mackenzie Murgatroyd.
Wild Spirit Award – Madison Van Will.
Wild MVP Award – Avary Miller.
