The and their fans made their mark against bullying on Wednesday night.
As the snow floated down outside, the junior A hockey team鈥檚 players and supporters on the George Preston Recreation Centre ice surface.
The 91原创 and Township of 91原创 are partnering in an anti-bullying campaign in the lead-up to , a nation-wide initiative happening Feb. 28.
The messages will remain in the ice for the 91原创鈥檚 two final games this weekend (Saturday, Feb. 24 versus Merritt starting at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 25 against Prince George at 2 p.m.).
Each participant in Wednesday鈥檚 painting party received a ticket to one of the two weekend games.
The 91原创 players are fully behind Pink Shirt Day鈥檚 message of compassion, empathy, and kindness.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important for kids to grow up with confidence,鈥� right winger Daneel Lategan said.
鈥淏ullying needs to be choked out of the school system. I think us raising awareness and showing leadership in the community will help kids see that (kindness) is definitely a better option than bullying other kids.鈥�
Lategan believes team sports is an excellent anti-bullying tool because it promotes inclusiveness and teamwork.
鈥淲ith sports, people get to know each other and that鈥檚 how friendships start,鈥� he said. 鈥淕rowing up doing a lot of hockey and sports in school, I definitely wasn鈥檛 too much aware of it (bullying) but I knew that it occasionally happened in different ways.鈥�
Defenceman Jake Livingstone said that, in his experience sports was a good way of connecting youngsters who wouldn鈥檛 otherwise associate with each other.
鈥淚 know a lot of kids when I was younger who were kind of outside of our group, and pretty much as soon as they started playing sports, they became part of the team and one of (our) buddies,鈥� Livingstone said. 鈥淭hat was an in for them, and their way to fit in.鈥�
