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Teams suit up for charity

A local company is using one of the most popular sports in town to raise money for the Bulkley Valley Health Care and Hospital Foundation.
72708smithersHockeytournament-WEB
The Gunners 2.0 and Trailer Trash battle it out in the first game of the tournament at Coast Mountain GM on Saturday.

A local company is using one of the most popular sports in town to raise money for the Bulkley Valley Health Care and Hospital Foundation.

Coast Mountain GM raised $700 during the inaugural Coast Mountain GM Street Hockey Tournament and barbecue last Saturday.

“It’s fun, the weather was great, people are here for a good time. At the same time, people know they’re doing this for a good cause,” said Alex Meer, one of the event organizers.

“People can feel good about having fun.”

Seven teams and roughly 45 players showed up to compete for the grand prize of $1,000 — half of which went to the “The Calvins,” the team who won the tournament.

The other $500 and money raised from the barbecue and entry fees were donated to the foundation under the team’s name.

“It’s just a fun event for charity,” said Meer.

“Whether you have a newborn, whether you’re pregnant, whether you’re a senior citizen or anyone in between, you need to use that hospital and its services. We tried to choose a charity that affects absolutely everybody.”

According to Meer, the idea originated with his wife.

“I approached my managers here and it came to fruition,” he said. “We’ve never done or organized anything like this before.”

Jeremiah Marko, a player in the tournament, said he enjoyed being able to play hockey for a good cause.

“It’s a good event, we get to play hockey and the money is going to a good cause, so why not come out?” he said.

Organizers are already looking into how they can make the event a bigger success next year.

“I’ve had a couple of people approach me about youth because we just kept it to [ages] 14 and above,” said Meer, adding that someone has already approached him about doing a kids tournament next month.