Before last week’s Jersey Day in honour of the victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash, a local ball hockey group helped supply the community with jerseys.
Organized by a Langley group of hockey moms, the nation-wide event on April 12 saw thousands of people don sports jerseys to show their support for the team that lost 16 people, mostly young hockey players, in a crash in rural Saskatchewan.
On April 10 and 12, Valley Ball Hockey was scheduled to hold its annual team photo day, said Melanie McDougall, who sits on the league’s sponsorship and fundraising committee. The group has recently bought new jerseys for its players, but had many old and retro jerseys in storage.
They decided to sell off the older ones for $5 each for kids to use as practice wear. With Jersey Day taking place, McDougall shared the event on her own and the Brookswood Community Facebook page.
It turns out plenty of people wanted to show their support for Humboldt and help out Valley Ball Hockey as well.
“We had a frenzy of people coming from all over to get multiple jerseys,” said McDougall. “We sold over 250 jerseys.”
A bus driver even asked McDougall to meet her at a bus stop so she could buy one while on her route.
“I love our community and how we come together,” McDougall said.
Money from the event will help support the non-profit ball hockey league through equipment.