Keenen Wolki and his team of East Three Secondary School students hoisted the school’s miniature Stanley Cup last week, winning the final game of floor hockey intramurals in the season-ending playoffs.
Stewart Burnett/NNSL photo
The Cup was presented by staff decked out in zebra-style referee uniforms and even had a member of the RCMP on hand.
“I think it was pretty cool,” said Wolki, a Grade 12 student at the school.
“It was fun playing floor hockey this year.”
Teamwork and a finely tuned roster helped his team come out on top in the finals.
“I had fun all year,” said Wolki. “There were some trades going around. It was kind of like the same league that we watch on TV.”
Fifty students took part in the hockey intramurals, which marked a return of a popular program in Inuvik.
“We’re looking to reinvigorate intramurals here,” said principal Gene Jenks. “We used to have a great program that started at Samuel Hearne (school) and we brought here, but due to a number of reasons, it fizzled out. We used to have a huge afternoon of floor hockey finals. We’d have smoke machines, lights and keyboard, the whole nine yards.”
The finals last weekend wasn’t quite as flashy as it once was, but Jenks is hoping to build that interest back up. The same Stanley Cup that was given out in the past was dusted off again for last week’s winners.
“We want to promote healthy living,” said Jenks about why staff want to reinvigorate the competitive lunchtime affair. “We want to promote sportsmanship and relationship building, between students and between staff. We volunteer our time for the lunches. The kids appreciate it. They get to run around.”
A number of individual awards for season play were given out at the final game as well.
Soccer intramurals will start in the new year, with a unique World Cup to be presented to the winning team.