Students score with HEROS hockey
Suleyman El Hasan, a Grade 6 student at Prince Charles Elementary, gets fitted for skates at the launch of the HEROS program in Surrey. Below right, Grade 6 Cedar Hills Elementary student Noveleen Dhaliwal tries on a helmet, while Desmond Thompson (below left), a Grade 5 student at K.B. Woodward Elementary, displays his new hockey gloves.
Thirty-six students from four Surrey elementary schools are getting the chance to hit the ice â- with brand new equipment ÂÂÂâ- for a free weekly hockey program.
Grade 4-7 students from Prince Charles, K.B. Woodward, Old Yale and Cedar Hills elementary schools were fitted head-to-toe with gear, from skates to pads, helmets to jerseys, at Sport Chek in Guildford Town Centre. And of course, a big black hockey bag to put it all in.
The opportunity was made possible through HEROS (Hockey Education Reaching Out Society), which is celebrating its 17th season of empowering children through ice hockey.
"It's like Halloween," said Grade 6 student Noveleen Dhaliwal as she packed her new helmet alongside other gear in her hockey bag.
She and friend Zaara Rahiman, who both attend Cedar Hills Elementary, said they had never played hockey and were excited to try it.
After getting outfitted on the first day, the three dozen Surrey students headed to North Surrey Arena to test their new gear Ââ- and skating skills â- accompanied by Vancouver Canuck Sven Baertschi.
Norm Flynn, Executive Director and founder of HEROS, is pleased the program for vulnerable youth has come to Surrey.
"The ability to give youth from families who can't afford the cost of minor hockey, for whom our program can provide mentors who can use the game of hockey to impact their lives off the ice, happens only when the community comes together as it has here in Surrey," he said.
