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Play On! a Huge Success in Edmonton, London, and Moncton
Monday, June 08, 2009
Each event featured separate divisions for men, women, boys, girls, and coed teams of all ages and skill levels, competing on over 60 rinks (each rink featuring regulation sized steel nets) operating non-stop for two whole days.
When asked about the highlight of the weekend, National Program Director Scott Hill, who attended the London event, shared a moment which he felt best summarized what the Play On! program is all about:
"An early Saturday morning 'Danglers' (13&Under division) game was tied 10-10 at the end of regulation. The game advanced past the preliminary shoot-out round to the sudden death round, when the team that was first to attempt scored."
Mistakenly, the young referee immediately declared that team the winner, without allowing the other team to have its shot at keeping the game alive.
"The score was reported and recorded, and significant time passed, before a Parent (on the team that been declared the winner) came to find me at the Master Scoreboard. He knew that the Official had made a mistake, and that the game had been improperly decided. Notwithstanding his team being credited with the win, and the fact that the opposing team did not complain about the loss, he explained that the situation weighed on his conscience, and expressed his desire to do the right thing."
Organizers made arrangements for the game to be resumed and properly decided late on Saturday evening, with one shootout attempt to determine whether the game was indeed over or whether it would continue into additional sudden death rounds.
"There was real drama in the air. Many spectators gathered and surrounded the rink. Each team huddled around the players that would take part in the deciding moment; one team around its goalie and the other around its shooter. Words of encouragement were offered by parents, and then the big moment came...
The shooter made a nice fake and had the goalie beaten, but his solid shot to the top corner rang off the crossbar. Naturally, the winning team then swarmed their goalie, as if they had just won the Stanley Cup; for they had indeed won the game, and had done so fairly. All players had big smiles on their faces as they shook hands, slapped helmets, and tapped pads, and the parents of both teams beamed."
"It was actually an emotional moment for me as an organizer. After many months of hard work and challenges in event preparation and planning, observing that one real-life opportunity for a Father to teach his son and his teammates about the rewards of sportsmanship and fair play was extremely sweet and rewarding. I wanted to personally thank that parent, but I just couldn't get the words out, because I was just so proud of him."
The events included teams that came from all over each Province, as well as the Provinces of Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island; the United States, and Yukon Territory. In all, over 2050 organized games were played, officiated, and managed.
Congratulations go out to all division winners, who were all very deserving and who took home some great prizing that included new hockey gloves and composite sticks provided by SANDE Hockey, and hats provided by The Hockey News. Pictures of all division winners are now posted!
Special congratulations go out to the Elite Division winners and finalists who will represent their respective cities at the CBC's Hockey Night in Canada Presents Play On! National Championships and compete for the Redwood Cup later this year.
We look forward to returning to Edmonton, Moncton, and London again in 2010, and to exciting events in Vancouver and Oshawa this coming weekend. Registration for each event closes at midnight on Wednesday, June 10th.
Play On!
