‘It’s about just helping people’: Sask. youth hockey team gives back to children’s hospital

The Martensville Pirates U13 hockey team played at the Martensville Recreational Centre on Saturday evening to raise funds and awareness for childhood cancer and other illnesses.  (Hallee Mandryk / CTV News)

For the U13 Martensville Pirates, the idea of fundraising for the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital (JPCH) started very close to home.

“My brother, he had cancer when he was 11. And it was really hard on him because he wanted to play sports like us,” Ben Herzog, one of the athletes said.

In addition to Ben’s family, another sibling of a teammate was diagnosed with a rare blood disease, and the hospital played a crucial role in their journey.

“You never know when you’re going to need it...So we didn’t expect it. It just kind of teaches them to give when you can because you might be the recipient down the road,” Lyndon Neufeld, one of the team parents said.

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These close connections with the hospital inspired the team to pay it forward, in the form of a cookie fundraiser to support the hospital.

“Your community is what you make it. And if you want to live in a strong community, sometimes you need to give your strength to others who need it a little bit more than you do at the time,” Carmen Herzog, the team manager said.

The team’s community coordinator, Nicole Tatchell says the importance of JPCH among the team became apparent quite early in the season.

“There was a couple of moms and I that were just getting to know each other, and they happened to tell me about their experiences with their children,” Tatchell said.

The parents said they were initially inspired by November’s ‘Hockey Fights Cancer’ initiative. While they were a little too late to join that particular fundraiser, they began thinking of a different way to give back.

“With children in hospital, they are wanting to be out here, and there’s no better medicine than having a team who does have the strength to be out here to show their support. It makes them feel thought of and not forgotten,” Carmen Herzog said.

It’s a lesson that has certainly resonated with the young athletes on the Pirates.

“It’s special because children in the Children’s hospital, they wish they could be here and it’s really good for us to help fundraise money for them so they can hopefully get better and come to what we do,” team captain, Nash Hutchinson said.

In addition to decorating the cookies, the athletes also sported gold laces and stick tape, which is the colour of childhood cancer awareness.

“You need to always give back to the community for what they’ve done [for] you,” Ben Herzog said.

Neufeld added that as a parent, it has been rewarding to see how involved the athletes became in the process of organizing the fundraiser.

“Even just decorating the cookies beforehand, they had a blast, and just had the camaraderie and came together as a team. So that was really good,” Neufeld said.

Tatchell added that the whole process has been an important teaching moment for the entire Pirates community.

“We’re lucky to have healthy kids that are on the ice, so we want to make sure that they’re well rounded and we want them to give back to the community. We want them to show that they have strength to help out more than just their team, but the community around them that supports them,” Tatchell said.

That lesson is certainly making an impact among the team.

“It’s not really just about sports. It’s about just helping people. And anybody can really help raise money for the kids in Children’s Hospital,” Hutchinson said.