Sapotaweyak’s Canada Day celebrations includes an extremely fun ball-hockey tournament, among many other activities.
The Northern store in Sapotaweyak, MB, organized a grand Canada Day celebration for the whole community with plenty of fun, games and prizes.
It has been a tough couple of months for everyone in Sapotaweyak, where everything was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the community slowly started lifting the restrictions, Sapotaweyak Northern Store Manager Edwin John Knott and his wife came up with the idea to do something for the community on Canada Day.
Hockey is a really big sport in Sapotaweyak, with several teams from the community, so the idea to host a Co-ed Ball Hockey Tournament was welcome. Knott reached out to the community’s Chief, Nelson Genaille, for permission, and the Chief was more than happy to organize the event.
With the help of Junior Chief Monica Leask and the council, a radio bingo was hosted to raise money for the tournament. The Northern store and its staff then got to work organizing the special day.
All of the $4,000 raised was used to fund the hockey tournament, an exciting two-day Canada-themed event with cash prizes of $1,000, $800 and $600 for the first, second, and third-place winners respectively.
The competition also had individual awards such as “Best Forward”, “Most Goals” and “Best Female Player”, with cash prizes for the well-deserving players. During the tournament finals on the second day, the community also held a barbeque by the rink for all the attendees.
“We had a lot of positive feedback about the event from the community. They enjoyed playing hockey and hope to see us do something like this again in the future. I enjoyed seeing people coming out to have a little fun and enjoying the tournament as it was something to look forward to. I also got to meet new people in the community,” shared Knott.
Knott and his wife, Lori Ann Knott, also acted as judges for the competitions. Sapotaweyak Councillor Bava Dhillion also came out to show his support and helped determine several of the individual awards.
The Canada Day celebrations also included a best-decorated vehicle contest as well as a best dress-up contest for the children in the community.
The Northern store also organized Canada Day dress-up contests for the children in the community, plus a best-decorated vehicle, quad, bicycle and stroller contest, with even more prizes for all the winners. The prizes ranged from $30 to $150, with some participants also receiving $25 participation cash prizes.