On The Road
Submitted By
Brian Carr on Sunday, November 22, 2009
On Sunday, Nov 15, players, coaches and fans of Grey/Bruce Falcons Special Hockey boarded a school bus for a 5 hour trip to North Bay. The Falcons are a team make up of developmentally challenged athletes living in and around Grey and Bruce Counties. Grey/Bruce Special Hockey started operations last year with 16 players practicing once a week in Hanover. Throughout the season, the team traveled to Guelph, Orangeville and North York to play other teams belonging to Special Hockey International. the season concluded with a trip to North York to attend the Annual International Tournament hosted by the Grandravine Tornadoes.
This season, we have grown to 20 players ranging in age from 8 to 49 years old. Our first game of the season was against the North Bay North Stars. 13 players along with the coaching staff and a contingent of faithful fans boarded the bus in the early hours for the long trip. Upon arriving at the North Bay Memorial Gardens, we were greeted by members of the North Bay North Stars. The North Stars treated us to a light lunch prior to the games. We also were honored to meet the Mayor of North Bay Vic Fedeli who welcomed us to the city and presented all of our players with pins.
Once lunch was over, it was time to prepare for the main purpose of our trip, to play hockey. Normally, we play with a mixed team, but because North Bay has such a large program, we were obliged to split our players into junior and senior. Because we were short players, members of the North Stars volunteered to play for us. Our junior players took to the ice first and spent the next 50 minutes chasing the puck from one end of the ice to the other. Next it was the senior teams turn to strut their stuff. Although the players gave it their all, it was obvious that we have a bit of work to do before we can consider ourselves a contender in the senior division. Once the players had changed and had a chance to thank our host and say goodbye, we boarded the bus for the long ride home.
We would like to thank our driver Sarah Black for volunteering to drive us to North Bay. Congratulations to the Falcons who did a tremendous job of representing our community while in North Bay. We look forward to the return trip from the North Stars next November.
