Overcoming All Obstacles

In February of 2020 I received a text asking me if I was interested in creating a new adult hockey league to fill a gaping void in my hometown. As someone who runs adult rec sports for a living and has a lifelong passion for hockey, it was a great fit. But at that very moment I was rushing my son Chase to B.C. Children’s Hospital with a stunning leukemia diagnosis that rocked our world. Our lives ground to a halt as we threw everything into this new battle. Shortly after the photo of this uplifting visit from Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson, the rest of the world followed suit in response to the threat of COVID-19. These past 18 months have been the hardest of our lives, both personally and financially. Our family of 5 was split between the island and the mainland. Our family business could only sporadically operate.
But today our son is happy and healthy, in the homestretch of his cancer treatment, back playing sports and mentally preparing to return to school. And as the calendar flipped to 2021 during another lockdown on adult sports, I was approached again about starting up a new hockey league. This time the answer was a yes. There have been numerous hurdles and nothing has been easy, but we’ve persevered at building a 12-team league, with CARHA providing amazing help with organizing the insurance side of things. Our new Comox Valley Hockey League launches in October, now with a long waiting list of players and teams that would love to join. The future looks bright for adult hockey in our valley, as something positive has emerged from the most challenging of times.