At 90 goals and counting so far this hockey season, a Saanich Peninsula team of nine-and-10-year-olds is hoping to raise money to help give other kids a chance to play sports.
And they’re doing it based on the number of goals they score as a team this season.
Hockey parent Brad Weinmeyer says his son’s Atom A team with the Peninsula Minor Hockey Association is taking pledges on each goal they score. They’re making it a team effort, he said, and it doesn’t matter who scores the goals, as long as they all work to reach their target.
Already, the team has four sponsors — from local business owners to grandparents — who have pledged $1 to $2 per goal.
Weinmeyer said they hope to raise $2,000 — that’s double what the team raised last season for the Larry Orr Foundation. Still working with the Foundation this year, Weinmeyer said the teams wants the money to go to KidSport, an organization helping children who might not otherwise be able to do so, to play sports.
“That’s what the Larry Orr Foundation is all about,” he said.
Word of the fundrasing is starting to spread and Weinmeyer said he’s even reached out to some of the home-grown NHL players to gauge their interest in getting involved.
“This is something new for us, we’ve never done it before.”
Co-coach Rob Armstrong said he got to know Larry Orr, who died in 2015, through hockey.
He said Orr was a unique person and perhaps the last of that kind of volunteer — who took it upon himself to run an equipment exchange, enabling children who might not be able to afford the gear, to get into hockey.
“He was the epitome of what the (hockey) community is all about,” Armstrong said. “We’re trying to carry on as best we can in his memory.”
The team is currently 10-0 on the season and will be playing in a tournament at Pearkes Arena in Saanich this weekend. Weinmeyer added the kids will play around 30 more games this season and are hoping more sponsors come on board.
To add a per-goal pledge, or make any donation, people can call Weinmeyer at 250-213-6124 or email bweinmeyer@hotmail.com.
editor@peninsulanewsreview.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
editor@peninsulanewsreview.com
