b.c. hockey team for players with disabilities gutted after heartless theft of gear
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the south island ravens hockey team has had their equipment stolen. general manager gus ascroft on the ice with his team on the bench.
south island ravens
an inclusive hockey team from colwood on vancouver island is raising money to replace two sets of goalie equipment that were stolen recently from the juan de fuca recreation centre.
“losing both sets of goalie gear is a real kick in the (gut),” said south island ravens general manager gus ascroft, who formed the team 13 years ago so his daughter georgia had somewhere to play.
“she has down syndrome and autism and loved hockey and wanted to play,” said ascroft.
he said his family moved to colwood from kelowna, which has an inclusive hockey team that georgia played for.
but colwood had no such team.
“so i got the word out there, rented a sheet of ice and 10 people showed up and we went from there,” ascroft said.
the club now has 40 members and two teams, one for under-18s and the other for over-18s. they play similar teams from around the province, plus old-timers teams, junior teams and even the saanich fire department team.
ascroft said that after a two-week break last month he arrived at the recreation centre to find the door leading to their storage room under a set of stairs unlocked and the gear stolen. the thief or thieves didn’t take several sledge hockey sleds that are also stored there.
“maybe the door was not locked, or we thought it was locked, but when we looked inside the gear was gone,” he said.
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stolen were 10 pairs of ice skates, 10 team jackets displaying the ravens team logo, two sets of goalie gear and two pairs of goalie skates.
ascroft said that raising kids with learning and physical disabilities is expensive, so the team tries as hard as it can to fundraise to keep hockey costs down. he is now looking for two sets of used goalie gear, but would welcome any donations.
west shore rcmp spokeswoman cpl. nancy saggar said the police are asking anyone with information about the theft to contact them at 250-474-2264.
ascroft said donations can be made by contacting the team at southislandravens@gmail.com.
members of the south islands ravens ice hockey team from colwood, b.c.
south island ravens
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