A magazine for students and parents in langley - School District #35
A magazine for students and parents in langley - School District #35
A magazine for students and parents in langley - School District #35
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featureHockey <strong>for</strong> everyonepucks lengthensthe benchHockey. It’s our national game, the arena where some of our greatestheroes live, part of the cultural s<strong>in</strong>ew of this place we call Canada…well, yeah, but maybe not <strong>for</strong> everyone, eh?A PuCKS skater suits up <strong>for</strong> an on-ice session.Many of the players have never set foot <strong>in</strong>side anarena be<strong>for</strong>e they start out <strong>in</strong> the program.The reality is hockey – especially<strong>in</strong> places like the LowerMa<strong>in</strong>l<strong>and</strong> of British Columbia,where ice doesn’t grow on ponds – isan expensive, some would say elitesport, out of reach <strong>for</strong> thous<strong>and</strong>s offamilies.Enter through the centre-ice gatePuCKS (Promot<strong>in</strong>g Communitythrough Kids <strong>in</strong> Sports). FounderConnie Klimek has a different takeon the world’s fastest team sport. Toher, its superstars have been moldedby a game that dem<strong>and</strong>s discipl<strong>in</strong>e,teamwork, spirit <strong>and</strong> confidence –essential attributes <strong>for</strong> future leaders.Every youngster deserves a crack atacquir<strong>in</strong>g the life skills hockey teaches,<strong>and</strong> Ms. Klimek has established aprogram that lengthens the bench <strong>for</strong>would be hockey players beyond whatanyone would have dreamed possiblebe<strong>for</strong>e PuCKS arrived on the scenefive years ago.“Kids learn so much from the discipl<strong>in</strong>eof hockey,” Ms. Klimek said. “Mosthave to learn that new skills likeskat<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> shoot<strong>in</strong>g a puck don’tcome all that easily. It takes practice<strong>and</strong> determ<strong>in</strong>ation.”That struggle to succeed gets carriedover <strong>in</strong>to other areas of life along with abunch of other life-skills like listen<strong>in</strong>gto coaches <strong>and</strong> support<strong>in</strong>g teammates.“If kids have never experienced be<strong>in</strong>gon a team be<strong>for</strong>e these are importantskills to learn,” Klimek said.So PuCKS enlists communitysupport <strong>for</strong> the ice time, coach<strong>in</strong>g<strong>and</strong> equipment needed to get kidswho otherwise might never set footonto the ice to strap on the skates,grab a stick <strong>and</strong> have a go at Canada’snational game.Like Htee Lu Paw, a member ofLangley’s grow<strong>in</strong>g Caren community,which has been flee<strong>in</strong>g systematicviolence <strong>in</strong> their homel<strong>and</strong> of Burma(Myanmar). In Nov. 2009, barelya year after arriv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> Canada, shedelivered a speech to PuCKS AnnualHockey Heroes Gala, tell<strong>in</strong>g the crowdabout her experiences as a refugee <strong>and</strong>recent immigrant to a strange l<strong>and</strong>.“It seemed like my whole life I neverbelonged anywhere,” she told a hushedaudience. “The Caren people werenever welcomed <strong>and</strong> there was alwayssomeone try<strong>in</strong>g to kill us.26 Student Success
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