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Written by Dylan Purcell
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Thursday, March 18 2010, 11:15 PM |
Like a disease, volunteerism has spread throughout the parents of the Bert & Macs atom A Senators.
It started with an email from Hockey Alberta and a grain of a thought in Tammy Trekofski’s head. Trekofski, who is was diagnosed as terminal with acute volunteerism, realized that there was no host site selected for the Atom AA Minor Provincial tournament.
Trekofski’s son, Tyson, plays for the Senators and rather than have the host bid go to a northern climate or some faraway destination like Coronation, Champion or Gleichen, she thought, “Why not Lethbridge?”
Rather than cough into her sleeve or wash her hands, Trekofski, already infected by volunteerism as the Hockey Alberta registrar, allowed her affliction to spread.
“I just mentioned to the coaches one Wednesday at practice,” said Trekofski. “And they thought it was a great idea.
“So we had a real quick parents’ meeting and that was it. There wasn’t anyone who didn’t think it was a good idea.”
See? Disease knows no race, creed or colour. Now, beginning at 1:15 p.m. today at the Labour Club Arena, Lethbridge is hosting the 2010 Atom AA Minor Provincials.
“And you know? Really, it just started snowballing,” said Trekofski of the provincial pandemic.
The Senators’ parents weren’t content to just host a provincial tournament, however. With a donation from Dunlop Ford, they are planning to establish a legacy fund for the next group of willing volunteers.
Dunlop Ford’s Shaun Henderson, a parent on the team, managed to get his employer to donate a 1999 Ford Expedition, which the organizing committee will raffle off. The proceeds will cover this year’s tournament expenses, with the rest put into a fund for Lethbridge Minor Hockey to cover future hosting bids.
“It’s been amazing,” said Trekofski. “I mean, we’ll make money from this through our raffle table baskets and loonie sticks and admission and everything else so the thought is there should be some good money in that account so Lethbridge can look at hosting at least one provincial tournament every year.”
Hosting means parents from at least a couple of Lethbridge teams won’t have to truck their children to places like Viking (peewee B female this year) to go to a provincial tournament.
“Well, one way we put it to our parents was ‘Do you want to spend $1,000 on hotels and gas and food or do you want to stay at home and put in the work?’
“They chose the work,” said Trekofski with a laugh.
And, unlike diseases such as the common cold or leprosy, this volunteerism thing sounds like fun.
“I will tell you right now this is one of the best things I’ve been a part of,” said Trekofski. “This group of parents and volunteers are amazing. Everybody has stepped up and gone so far beyond what they needed to do and we’ve all had so much fun doing it, it’s been great.
“This has been a very positive thing so far and the weekend hasn’t even really started yet.”
Raffle tickets will be available at Adams Ice Centre. Only 999 are up for sale, with many already sold. Tickets are $10 and the draw is April 15.
“What I love most about it is that we’ll be able to look at it in a few years and see other teams hosting provincials here and know that we played a part in it,” said Trekofski. “It really will leave a mark.”
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