Fifteen-year-old Darian Harris has been accepted to Victoria’s prestigious Pacific Coast Hockey Academy and his family is bound and determined to help him foot the bill.
Tim and Stephanie Harris, Darian’s father and aunt, have arranged a fundraising gala and golf tournament to help cover the cost of the academy’s $17,000 registration fee.
The golf tournament is set for Saturday, Sept. 21 at the Mount Brenton Golf Course. Registration opens at 11:30 a.m. and the tournament’s first foursome is scheduled to tee off at 1:30 p.m.
The tournament will be followed by a dinner and silent auction. Dinner will be served at 5:30 p.m. followed by the 7 p.m. auction.
Stephanie said her nephew, a former member of the Bantam AAA Cowichan Valley Capitals, is the only First Nations hockey player expected to attend the academy.
Stephanie desribed Darian as a scholar-athlete and a role model for his Stz’uminus First Nation peers.
“Darian is a great hockey player and a student with A average grades,” Stephanie said. “He’s never smoked, drank or done drugs. I feel Darian is a great role model for First Nation youth, [a reminder that] if you work hard and set goals you can achieve them.”
Tickets for the golf tournament and dinner cost $85 each or $320 for a group of four while dinner without a side of golf costs $40 per person.
For more information, please contact Stephanie Harris at 250-327-9674 or Tim Harris at 250-667-0880.