A women鈥檚 hockey tournament taking place in the Sea to Sky hopes to raise cash to help girls in need play the sport.
Tournament organizer Melissa Talaro will be donating all the funds from the Whistler Spring Fling tournament to the Grindstone Award Foundation.
鈥淎s a youth, her family had challenges to pay the costs that are incurred with playing the sport,鈥� wrote Kristi Patton of the foundation in an email to The Chief. 鈥淚t wasn't until her early 20s that she could afford to play.鈥�
鈥淚t would be so cool to help kids in different communities,鈥� Talaro said in a news release. 鈥淚 think money is a big barrier for people. We should take that barrier down.鈥�
Talaro recalls when she first moved to Whistler there was only one girls minor hockey association team and two years later there were none.
She said that in an active mountain community, the interest in playing the sport doesn鈥檛 necessarily seem to be the problem, but the expense of getting growing kids into gear year after year.
The Whistler Spring Fling still has room for one more team in the C division, playing May 11 to 13. If you or anyone you know is interested, please email Melissa Talaro at [email protected].
For all the girls and women out there who have always wondered what it鈥檚 like to be on the ice playing hockey, the 鈥淭ry Hockey For Free In Whistler鈥� event on May 5 will give you a chance.
More event details on both events can be found at https://grindstoneaward.com/events/
