One week left to jump on the Nakusp Hockeyville bandwagon
By The Nelson Daily Sports
By Bruce Fuhr
The Nelson Daily Sports
Nakuspians blew the doors off the local arena Saturday night as part of Rally in the Valley in support of landing Kraft Hockeyville 2011.
Nakusp (see Rally in the Valley photo feature on Sports) displayed its pride at the arena during an evening featuring a midget rep game with junior and senior novice players showing their skills during period intermission.
It all started because Andrea Coates of Nakusp Minor Hockey had an idea. And it was all about putting Nakusp on the hockey map.
“I’d been watching on television the last couple of years cities and towns in the Kraft Hockeyville contest and thought, “Why not Nakusp?” Coates told The Nelson Daily Sunday.
So quicker than a Sami Salo slap shot Coates got Nakusp entered into the Kraft Hockeyville 2011 contest.
Now all the public needs to do is to submit letters of 500 words or less, plus pictures, to Kraft Hockeyville at www.krafthockeyville.ca
“We currently have the lead for cities in Western Canada,” Coates said. “But we need more. All it takes is one letter to be selected and we’re in.”
The Kraft Hockeyville competition has been going for the past handful of years.
First the community needs to be nominated, which Coates successfully did in December 2010.
People then submit letters and pictures explaining experiences in the sport of hockey in Nakusp, which Nakusp leads in Western Canada.
The letters are looking for community spirit and heartfelt stories of hockey experiences in Nakusp, past and present.
Deadline for submissions is Sunday, January 30, 2011.
Based on submissions a panel chooses the top 10 — two communities from each of the five regions. The regions are Pacific (B.C./Yukon), West, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic.
The top 10 will be profiled on CBC on March 8. Then online and telephone voting begins from March 8-13. Five communities will be chosen on March 19.
Then online voting from March 19-21 determines the grand prize winner — $100,000 in arena upgrades and the right to host an NHL preseason game. The winner is announced April 2 on Hockey Night in Canada.
The four runner-up communities receive $25,000.
“It’s been hair straight back and a lot of sleepless nights putting this together,” Coates confessed.
On February 12, Hockey Day in Canada, Coates adding to the festive nature involving this Hockeyville drive by organizing a shinny hockey tournament in the arena parking lot with all local minor hockey players in action.
The same day the curling club is hosting a bonspiel, the figure skating club is staging a competition and the snowmobile club is offering rides on the soccer field.
“We’ve only got one more week so anyone with a story, please send it in,” Coates said.
sports@thenelsondaily.com
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