THEY'RE only 10 years old but players on the Sir John Franklin Explorers 10A1 hockey team know all about sharing good fortune and giving back to their community.
The team of 12 boys and one girl was one of 13 minor hockey teams from across Canada recognized recently by the Future Team Canada program. The Explorers received a $1,999 cash award presented by the Wayne Gretzky Foundation, Canadian Hockey Foundation and Hockey Canada, and promptly donated $750 to the Sir John Franklin Community Centre.
Sir John Franklin representative Teri-Lynne Harms (centre-top) sits among the amped up Explorers 10A1 team and their cheque for $750.
"To give the money to the community centre feels really good because they give so much to us... hockey and lots of fun stuff," said Explorers player Gianluca Esteves.
The cash award is to be used for hockey development and a coaching package. Plus, each player will get equipment bearing logos of the Wayne Gretzky Foundation and Hockey Canada.
Esteves said he and his teammates can't wait to get the new equipment.
"It feels really cool getting equipment from Wayne Gretzky because a lot of us think he's one of the greatest players to ever play and a lot of us look up to him as a role model," Esteves said. "It's really nice of them to give us all this stuff."
Every time the Explorers put on their jerseys, they benefit from the generousity of former Explorer Mike Keane, Manitoba Moose captain and three-time Stanley Cup winner. He played minor hockey at Sir John Franklin and bought the team home-and-away jerseys and toques last year.
The Future Team Canada program is now in its fourth year and is designed to "reward and recognize 13 hockey teams in Canada for the amount of heart they show rather than the amount of games they win."
The Explorers entered the contest last December when co-manager Tracy Leckie submitted a 250-word essay styled as a press release which spoke of fun and friendship. The winners, one from each of Hockey Canada's 13 regions, were announced late last month.
"It wasn't hard because they're such an amazing group of little kids," Leckie said of the players, many of whom have played together for three years. "Not knowing how many teams enter from around the province, you don't know what the field (of other entries) will be like.
"But our kids' attitude -- and just everything they do -- I think made it easy for them to pick us."
Leckie, whose husband Scott is one of the team's three coaches, also included a paragraph on the volunteer work done by each of the team's 13 players.
For example, Explorer Kate MacKenzie was the model for the 2007 World Women's Hockey Championship logo held in Winnipeg last spring. She also travelled with chairperson Polly Craik to promote the event and hockey participation in general.
Another Explorer, Will Purves, received the Manitoba Teacher Society Young Humanitarian Award for being a leader in his grade every year in charity work.
A team meeting was called after they received the monetary portion of their winnings and players and parents voted unanimously to donate a portion to their community centre.
"We were overwhelmed -- we thought that was terrific," said SJF president John Young, noting some of the cash will likely go toward new jerseys for the club's 7- and 8-year-old team. "It's in the spirit of what community centres are all about."
The Explorers also put some of the Future Team Canada money toward participation in a tournament in Fargo, N.D., and a dry-land training session.
PREVIOUS
