CK teams show lots of spirit, for a good cause

BY JOHN DECOSTE

jdecoste@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

The boys’ basketball and hockey teams from Central Kings Rural High got together last week for fun and as a show of school spirit.

The teams agreed to take to the court – and the ice – against each other last Wednesday, first for a basketball game over the lunch break and then for a hockey game after school.

At first, the inter-team contests – a first for the Cambridge school – were planned solely as a school spirit event, but once they came together Jack Moores, a senior member of the basketball Gators, suggested the teams turn it into a fundraiser.

A freewill offering was taken at both games, with the proceeds being donated toward the Brandon Smith Memorial Park in Coldbrook. Brandon, a Coldbrook resident, was killed in a tragic auto accident last December that also seriously injured his older brother Jared.

“Several of the guys on the team were friends of Brandon’s,” Moores said, adding that both Brandon and Jared, “if they hadn’t gone to Kings-Edgehill, would have attended our school and probably would have been in some of our classes.”

Moores ran the idea past hockey captain Zack Morse, with immediate approval. The fundraiser also had the support of the school, the student council and the Smith family.

Head coaches Stan MacVicar of the basketball squad and Mike Landry of the hockey Gators donned uniforms and took part in the fun.

“They’re a great group of guys,” MacVicar said of the basketball and hockey teams. “They’re all good friends and support each other all season. They wanted to have a challenge, which is a great idea, and that they wanted to help honour Brandon’s memory makes it extra special.”

When all was said and done, a total of $450 was raised from the two events, which MacVicar described as “a real testament to the kids we have at our school. We’re all especially proud of Jack for coming up with such a wonderful fundraising idea.”