A magazine for students and parents in langley - School District #35

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featureHockey for everyonepucks lengthensthe benchHockey. It’s our national game, the arena where some of our greatestheroes live, part of the cultural sinew of this place we call Canada…well, yeah, but maybe not for everyone, eh?A PuCKS skater suits up for an on-ice session.Many of the players have never set foot inside anarena before they start out in the program.The reality is hockey – especiallyin places like the LowerMainland of British Columbia,where ice doesn’t grow on ponds – isan expensive, some would say elitesport, out of reach for thousands offamilies.Enter through the centre-ice gatePuCKS (Promoting Communitythrough Kids in Sports). FounderConnie Klimek has a different takeon the world’s fastest team sport. Toher, its superstars have been moldedby a game that demands discipline,teamwork, spirit and confidence –essential attributes for future leaders.Every youngster deserves a crack atacquiring the life skills hockey teaches,and Ms. Klimek has established aprogram that lengthens the bench forwould be hockey players beyond whatanyone would have dreamed possiblebefore PuCKS arrived on the scenefive years ago.“Kids learn so much from the disciplineof hockey,” Ms. Klimek said. “Mosthave to learn that new skills likeskating and shooting a puck don’tcome all that easily. It takes practiceand determination.”That struggle to succeed gets carriedover into other areas of life along with abunch of other life-skills like listeningto coaches and supporting teammates.“If kids have never experienced beingon a team before these are importantskills to learn,” Klimek said.So PuCKS enlists communitysupport for the ice time, coachingand equipment needed to get kidswho otherwise might never set footonto the ice to strap on the skates,grab a stick and have a go at Canada’snational game.Like Htee Lu Paw, a member ofLangley’s growing Caren community,which has been fleeing systematicviolence in their homeland of Burma(Myanmar). In Nov. 2009, barelya year after arriving in Canada, shedelivered a speech to PuCKS AnnualHockey Heroes Gala, telling the crowdabout her experiences as a refugee andrecent immigrant to a strange land.“It seemed like my whole life I neverbelonged anywhere,” she told a hushedaudience. “The Caren people werenever welcomed and there was alwayssomeone trying to kill us.26 Student Success
Ready to go, youngsters arrive at the arena ready for play, thanks to thedonations of time and money by PuCKS contributors. Photo provided.“I didn’t make friends easily because I was different fromeveryone else. But thanks to PuCKS it has been the best yearof my life.”Those are the kinds of stories Ms. Klimek likes to hear.“PuCKS provides opportunities for kids who have financialor behavioral needs or for kids who are just trying to re-settleinto Canada from other countries,” she said.“As Canada’s official national pastime, the Canadian hockeyexperience is essentially a rite of passage for some children.Once conquered, many of them feel a real sense of belonging.”Htee Lu Paw spoke for dozens of kids who have benefitedfrom the program when she described her experience withPuCKS.“The first time I stepped out on the ice I saw everyone elseskating around and shooting the puck and my heart sank. Ithought I could never be like them. I just stood up and felldown, stood up and fell down, again and again for the wholepractice,” she recalled.St. John AmbulanceSAVING LIVESat work, home and play“I was so discouraged and didn’t want to come back. Butwhen I came off the ice my coach Stanley told me: ‘Nevergive up! You can do it!’ This was the first time in my life that Iheard someone speak those words to me. When I heard thosewords my heart became strong, and I believed in myself.”Results like that brings in support for PuCKS.“When they see the impact the program is having on thesekids – how they are progressing physically, intellectually andemotionally – community pride is bolstered Ms. Klimek said.“People are happy they gave. They want to give more.... it’s anongoing, positive feedback loop!”But there’s always a need for more support. Find out foryourself how PuCKS has changed the lives of kids and howyou can contribute at www.pucksprogram.ca.Courses & Training Available:CPR-C and AEDEmergency Community CareStandard Level First AidEmergency First Aid Level 1Occupational First Aid Levels 2 & 3CPR for Health Care Providers... and many more!For information call604-467-1490or visit the branch#306 - 22230 North Ave,Maple Ridge, BC604-953-1603or visit the branch8911 152nd Street,Surrey, BCwinter edition 27
Page 1 and 2: studentSuccessWINTER 2010A MAGAZINE
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