Despite the cold autumn weather on Nov. 7, the volunteer staff for the University of Guelph’s chapter of Right to Play managed to host a successful street hockey tournament in the South-Maritime parking lot, with four Toronto Raptors tickets on the line for the winning team.
Fencing separated the four playing surfaces, or “rinks,” and games ran at a constant for most the morning while music blared from the open doors of a car parked beside the registration tents.
Right to Play is an international organization that works at the local level to help underprivileged kids play sports, requiring events like the street hockey tournament to fund future events.
“All the money we raise goes to Right to Play, which is an international organization, an NGO …they work all over the world and most importantly, they work in Ontario now on Native reserves, so they provide a lot of chances for the youth there to play hockey,” said Jeff Cheng, one of the organizers for Guelph’s chapter of Right to Play.
Cheng continued, “Right to Play has grown really fast and [we’ve] got partners all over the NHL and other sports leagues. It’s a neat way to approach social problems …the idea that you give a kid a chance to play sports and it teaches them life skills.”
The street hockey tournament followed a successful concert at the Brass Taps on Nov. 6, which featured raffles and three local bands; and on Nov. 26, Right to Play will be hosting a “Yoga Rave” in Peter Clark Hall at 7 p.m. to cap off a month with a seemingly endless schedule of events.
The street hockey tournament was successful and by happenstance, Right to Play received some unexpected help and contributions, “We partnered up with HROB*3100 …It so happened that we were planning a hockey tournament on the same day in the same parking lot. We’re all helping out together,” said Cheng.
Help came from sources outside the U of G community as well. “We keep a bit of money for operational costs. For example, the fence here,” Cheng said as he pointed to the fence that designated the four playing surfaces, “… cost us $300 and it was heavily discounted from ‘Modu-Loc’, and that’s $300 we had left over from other fundraising events.”
While money is always beneficial to help stage these events, it comes down to the generosity of Right to Play’s volunteers and organizers.