It will be a dream come true for 10-year-old Sireasha Alphonse when she gets the chance to travel to Montreal to meet Montreal Canadien’s goaltender Carey Price next month.
“I’m really excited,” said Alphonse, who was selected as the Breakfast Club of Canada and Air Canada’s Shooting for the Stars contest winner from her school, Marie Sharpe elementary.
“I get the chance to fly to Montreal and I’ve never been on a plane before. My grandma’s pretty excited, too.”
Sireasha’s grandma, Brenda Cahoose, will accompany her on the trip. They are scheduled to be in Montreal from Monday, Feb. 4 to Friday, Feb. 8.
Sireasha’s mom, Rhianna Cahoose, went to school with Price while growing up in Anahim Lake, where Alphonse was also a student for her first year of school.
READ MORE: Student meets idol, Carey Price
Sireasha said she’s looking forward to swimming in the hotel pool, seeing the sights in Montreal, shopping and tasting some delicious Montreal cuisine.
The highlight of the trip, however, will come when Sireasha gets to attend a Canadiens practice and have a meet and greet with Price. She’ll later get to attend a Canadiens game.
“It’s pretty awesome, and I’m really looking forward to it,” she said. “I haven’t really thought yet about what I want to ask him. We’re both from the same community and mostly everyone there is a big fan of his.”
Marie Sharpe Elementary School principal Calvin Dubray said students were asked to write a letter to the Breakfast Club of Canada and the Air Canada Foundation for their Shooting for the Stars contest and Sireasha, a Grade 5 student from the school, was selected as the winner.
In her letter Sireasha said: her “favourite sport would probably be floor hockey/ice hockey. But I still need to overcome my fear of the ice so my goal would be when I go to Montreal I would try my best of not being afraid to go on the ice. My dream would be for me and my grandma Brenda to go to Montreal and meet you and Angela (Carey’s wife), also to watch the hockey game. I have never been to a real hockey game before so that would be really special to me.”
Dubray said in the past year Sireasha has come into her own.
“Last year she struggled with relationships and that affected her academics, as well, but this year she has turned things around,” he said. “She’s been a regular of the Breakfast Club of Canada program since it arrived at our school three years ago.”
READ MORE: Marie Sharpe student reflects on meeting Carey Price
Dubray said she’s always willing to help out the school’s younger students in the BCC program — devoted to making sure students are fed breakfast at school — and is a pleasure to be around.
This year’s contest winner will be the fourth from Marie Sharpe to travel to Montreal to meet Price.
“Sireasha has also done some risk-taking by joining all of our sports teams this year thus far, even though she doesn’t see herself as proficient in some,” Dubray said. “Her positive attitude and willingness to step out of her comfort level is an inspiration to others as she is well liked and others follow.
“She volunteers her time at the school by doing school jobs such as office phones and Kindergarten lunch supervisor.”
Dubray added she’s also a member of the student leadership team.
“I’m proud of the person that Sireasha has chosen to become and the leader that she is destined to be,” Dubray said.
sports@wltribune.com
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