The Shuswap Chix ringette team will be facing off with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks Feb. 17 for a special competition, and they will be gearing up for a good cause.
Inspired by a desire to show support to a fellow ringette player, Chelsey Tarnow-Gray, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2018, the idea of hosting a charity match emerged as a top contender for Shuswap Ringette.
Cathy Lipsett, coach of the Shuswap Chix 18+ ringette team, says “She started this year, just started this season, and she was doing her chemo and it took too much out of her and she couldn’t play. She just finished her eighth bout of Chemo and she is doing very well right now. We just thought if we are going to do a charity game, we could do it for the cancer society in honour of Chelsey.”
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Some Shuswap ringette players have played in a similar charity game in West Kelowna in the past, where an ‘all-star’ team of ringette players from across the region team up to take on the West Kelowna Warriors. Lipsett says the games are great fun to watch, as the hockey players take to familiar ice with equipment that is a little different than what they are used to.
“Come out and watch a fun game of ringette, support a good cause and see how the boys play,” Lipsett says. “The boys don’t really know the rules, so they struggle at first but then they just get so competitive that they pick it up and learn it very well. They are actually really fun to play with and against, and really fun to watch.”
Admission to the game will be by donation, and, along with a 50/50 raffle, all proceeds will be donated to the Salmon Arm branch of the Canadian Cancer Society to support research towards a cure. The action starts at 2:45 p.m. at the Shaw Centre, Sunday, Feb. 17.
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Salmon Arm Silverbacks’ coach Tanner Cochrane says, “Obviously any chance you can get out in the community and support a cause like the cancer society, in whatever fashion that may be, is something we want to do. I know that everybody’s family has been affected by something like that so its always great to support the community, especially for ringette I think it will be great for the guys and they will have a good time, I think it’s for a great cause and hopefully we can help out as much as we can.”
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