A small northern Saskatchewan community has a chance at winning $100,000 for its minor hockey program.
Sheldon Cook of Southend is one of 100 finalists in the country — and just one of three in Saskatchewan — for the Kraft Hockey Goes On contest.
Cook has organized the Southend Minor Hockey Association — and started the Southend Reindeer Lake Arena Fund, since the community’s previous rink was torn down over a decade ago.
He says area youth don’t even have an outdoor rink they can play on, because it’s in disrepair and currently unsafe.
Cook says the lack of a local rink really hurts the kids’ chances when they travel to other communities for tournaments.
“The kids involved in hockey are really missing out by not having an indoor facility like the other communities, the surrounding communities. Because every time we go play the other communities — we go play out of town — we don’t have a chance to practice like the other communities, and they’re kind of playing at a higher level than our kids.”
Cook says prize money would be used for repairs to the outdoor rink, for the arena fund and for purchasing hockey equipment for needy kids in Southend.
The top 5 grand prize-winning nominees will be announced April 3 and will each get $100,000 for their local hockey association.
A total of 20 second prize-winning nominees will win $20,000 each.
The winners will be determined by online voting, which gets underway at 7 a.m. Saskatchewan time tomorrow and runs until 10 p.m. Sunday. Supporters can vote an unlimited number of times at the website www.krafthockeygoeson.ca.