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Tournament a salute to Caleb Kroffat

Play It Forward: No. 10 for the Duncan Winterhawks remembered with a unique format of giving revolving around hockey
Play It Forward Peewee C Hockey Tournament
Trent Dunlop of the Cowichan Valley Winterhawks Peewee C2 and Liam Woods of Nanaimo Clippers Peewee C collide.

Hockey was the unifying force for a post-Christmas Play It Forward Peewee C hockey tournament at Fuller Lake Arena.

The tournament was held as a tribute to young Caleb Kroffat, who died suddenly Nov. 8.

“I just thought it was a great tournament,’’ said Caleb’s dad Jason Kroffat, a speedster during his playing days with the Cowichan Valley Capitals of the B.C. Hockey League.

The tournament went far beyond the results, the simple wins and losses or goals for and against.

“The tournament was all about giving,’’ said Kroffat. “It was nice.’’

One of the great gestures made was a donation given to the SPCA in the name of the players chosen MVPs in each game and in honour of Caleb.

“My son Caleb was an animal lover,’’ said Jason Kroffat. “That part was nice.

“It was a tournament just for fun and everybody to be together.’’

Baskets were also set up in the arena for members of each team to bring non-perishable food items for the Cowichan Valley Basket Society.

The 10 teams that took part included Caleb’s own Cowichan Valley Winterhawks.

The Fuller Lake C4 Crushers made the final against an all-girls’ peewee team from Kerry Park that wound up winning it.

Other squads from the Cowichan Valley, Nanaimo and Victoria participated.

There was another great memento given to all the players in the tournament.

“Every kid in the tournament got a shirt that has a hockey player on the front,’’ said Kroffat. “It says Play It Forward for the tournament.’’

Also on the front was a tribute to Caleb Kroffat No. 10 and below that Cowichan Valley Minor Hockey with the dates Dec. 27 and 28.

Volunteers sold 50-50 tickets at every game, with the proceeds going to the Kroffat family.

The central theme of giving back to others was embraced by everyone.



Don Bodger

About the Author: Don Bodger

I've been a part of the newspaper industry since 1980 when I began on a part-time basis covering sports for the Ladysmith-Chemainus Chronicle.
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