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VIDEO: World Junior Championship Tour skates into Williams Lake

Enthusiastic cheering inside the Marie Sharpe Elementary School gymnasium was at an all-decibel high

Enthusiastic cheering inside the Marie Sharpe Elementary School gymnasium was at an all-decibel high on Friday, Oct. 5 when the BC Hockey’s Road to the World Juniors Tour stopped in at the school.

The students enjoyed meeting BC Hockey’s new 100th year anniversary mascot Celly, many of them giggled watching his dance moves or scrambled to give him a high-five.

Allan Bristowe, regional centre manager north for BC Hockey, said the tour will visit 40 schools by the end of November.

“We started our northern tour in Smithers, went to Prince George, Fort St. John and Quesnel before Williams Lake,” Bristowe said. “We are off to the Kootenays next.”

READ MORE: Schedule released for World Junior Hockey Championship

With the World Juniors running from Boxing Day until Jan. 5 in Vancouver and Victoria, Bristowe said the tour is not only bringing the World Junior trophy to the schools for students to see it and sharing information about the games, but hoping to encourage kids to be more active.

“If that means playing hockey — even better,” he said. “We are leaving floor ball equipment with the school and teaching some skills today.”

Joining Bristowe on the tour was Stacie Couch, a Victoria-based communications specialist with BC Hockey.

Local Williams Lake Minor Hockey bantam house player Dallas Moe and bantam rep players Ty Oviatt, Curtis Roorda, Cortland Forster and Owen Kielpinski were also on hand to teach hockey skills to the students.

Marie Sharpe is capitalizing on the World Juniors theme by raffling a jersey, donated by Caribou Ski Source for Sports, that Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price wore when he competed in and won the 2007 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Sweden.

READ MORE: Road to the World Juniors tour makes pitstop in Williams Lake

Teacher Cindy Grant said the jersey is autographed by Price and is one of four prizes to be won at the school’s carnival on Nov. 7.

The 45-minute presentation culminated with the students posing for a group video where they said the name of their school and said, “Go Canada Go,” that will be shown to Team Canada during the World Juniors.

The tour to Marie Sharpe was funded by the province of B.C. in partnership with I-SPARC.



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BC Hockey’s new mascot, Celly, gives high fives to the students in the audience last Friday during the association’s Road to the World Juniors Tour at Marie Sharpe Elementary School. Celly was introduced by BC Hockey in celebration of the association’s 100th anniversary of being involved in the sport.
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Williams Lake Minor Hockey Association bantam players Ty Oviatt (from left), Curtis Roorda, Dallas Moe, Cortland Forster and Owen Kielpinski stand behind the IIHF World Junior Championship trophy, which made a stop at Marie Sharpe Elementary School on Friday.
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Marie Sharpe elementary student Rylan Guichon, 11, models a signed, Carey Price, Team Canada World Junior Championship jersey Friday that the school will be raffling off at its upcoming carnival in November. Tickets are available at the school. (Monica Lamb-Yorski photo)
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Marie Sharpe elementary student Rylan Guichon, 11, models a signed, Carey Price, Team Canada World Junior Championship jersey Friday that the school will be raffling off at its upcoming carnival in November. Tickets are available at the school. (Monica Lamb-Yorski photo)
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Monica Lamb-Yorski

About the Author: Monica Lamb-Yorski

A B.C. gal, I was born in Alert Bay, raised in Nelson, graduated from the University of Winnipeg, and wrote my first-ever article for the Prince Rupert Daily News.
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