After the first skate of the season, way back in August, we knew we had a good group of players. With only 12 skaters and a goalie on the roster, everyone on the team knew we needed him to do his part.
As we made our way through the first part of the season, you could see the skills and the willingness to work together in the boys. We had success early, which left some wondering how we would deal with adversity. Dealing with adversity turned out to be our greatest strength of all.
When the league banner was on the line and the nerves were evident, we found a way. When we were in the Final Four Tournament as the fourth seed, we found a way. We won 33 of the 49 games we played this season and in those games, the boys found a way to bury 287 goals. The most impressive statistic of the regular season could be that we came away only one Sportsmanship point shy of a perfect record.
Only nine days after the Final Four Tournament the Blues were to make their way to Nelson to participate in the Provincial Championships. We needed help with the huge financial burden that this unexpected trip would put on families so we turned to our amazing community and in six days we raised $12,000. The Bantam A team and their parents want to thank every single person who helped, from all the local businesses who sponsored to everyone who emptied their change purses while the boys bagged groceries at the Wilson Creek IGA (#nelsonbound).
On March 17, we boarded a rented bus for the team trip to Nelson to join eight other teams in the Provincial Championship. We joined the best Bantam Tier 3 teams in the province, we played our hearts out and proved we deserved to be there.
– Submitted by Carla Hall, Team Manager
