Bon Soo ball hockey raises $10,000 for Easter Seals (4 photos)

Bon Soo ball hockey raises $10,000 for Easter Seals (4 photos)

NEWS RELEASE NORTHSIDE TOYOTA ************************* Event co-ordinators James Boynton and Steven McCoy are proud to announce that the Northside Toyota & Bon Soo first annual Easter Seals Ball Hockey Tournament was wildly successful and a huge

NEWS RELEASE

NORTHSIDE TOYOTA

*************************

Event co-ordinators James Boynton and Steven McCoy are proud to announce that the Northside Toyota & Bon Soo first annual Easter Seals Ball Hockey Tournament was wildly successful and a huge hit with players, volunteers, sponsors and fans alike.

Easter Seals may be the most excited about the event because it raised approximately $10,000 to help families of children with physical disabilities in Sault Ste. Marie.

The day kicked off with James Warner Smith beautifully singing the Canadian national anthem.

Then past NHLers and local Saulites, Ken Belanger and Aaron Gavey were on hand for the ‘Dropping of the Puck’ ceremony with guests of honour, Nathan Catling and Hunter Vommaro.

The tournament drew a capacity crowd of 12 teams and 120 players along with dozens of spectators and volunteers taking in all of the action.

Even the mayor, Debbie Amaroso stopped by to take in some of the action.

Boots & Saddles were on-site serving up hot fresh food all day and donated all their proceeds to Easter Seals.

“It was a huge success!” said co-organizer Steven McCoy, “Everyone had nothing but positive things to say and can’t wait to participate in next year’s tournament.”

Adam Knight was quoted in the Sault Star today, calling the tournament an “amazing” addition to the Bon Soo Ontario Winter Carnival.

Knight played in the tournament on Saturday for Detert Dentistry.

Co-organizer, James Boynton was born with a benign tumour on his spine, and within one hour of his birth, had to be flown to Toronto. The removal of the tumour resulted in two missing vertebrae and nerve damage to his legs.

“I grew up an Easter Seals kid so it was a no-brainer who I wanted to give back to with this event.” said Boynton Monday afternoon. “It was such a huge success for our first event. It really wasn’t as hard to organize as we originally thought it would be. There’s no doubt in my mind you will be hearing more from us (Boynton and McCoy) in the future.”

McCoy and Boynton gave each team a goal to raise $500 or more in pledges plus pay a $100 fee to participate.

“At first, it may have seemed like a lot of money just for teams to participate in the tournament.” said McCoy. “But once we explained that one hundred percent of the team fees would go to Easter Seals, and that $500 between 10 people works out to $50 in pledges per person, then nobody seemed to mind much. We doubled our original goal of raising $5,000! We promised to deliver the best ball hockey tournament the Sault has ever seen. Cab drivers in town were even talking about the tournament that night. Mission accomplished!” said McCoy, who is beaming happy with the results.

What is most “amazing” is that McCoy and Boynton managed to pull this off with virtually no money.

“Everything was donated by the local businesses and community. The metal fencing, nets, porta-johns, tables, chairs, tents, radios, DJ equipment, gifts, prizes, etc., everything was donated. The little things such as paper and ink, we bought ourselves because we knew it was worth every penny.” said McCoy. “The tournament was not only fun and exciting for the players but for the fans and volunteers as well. Our scorekeepers refused offers to take breaks despite the fact they were shivering cold, because they wanted to watch the next game.”

The Sault Star quoted the co-chair of the annual Easter Seals telethon, Mike Delfre saying he was “flabbergasted” by the efforts of James Boynton and Steven McCoy.

“The organization, the size of it, is just phenomenal for their first event. We’re really impressed with it. Hopefully they’ll carry on. It really shows you, when kids are committed, what young people can do. It’s great.” said Delfre.

Boynton and McCoy have opened up some eyes in the Sault with this event, proving that they can not only deliver on what they promise, but go above and beyond their own expectations.

Here are some results from the tournament.

Team that raised the most pledges: Tigers Blood with $884

1st place winners of the Northside Toyota Cup: Don Cherry Pickers

2nd place finishing team: Nicolet Tavern

Special mention to Robert Watson who individually raised over $400 in pledges

Event co-ordinators would like to give special thanks to: