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LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
An event combining road hockey and birthday well-wishes celebrated its fourth anniversary in Fort Simpson on Nov. 5.

Aaron Donohue, left, pursues Wayne Schuab and the ball during one of the round robin games during the fourth annual Road Hockey Rumble in Fort Simpson. The event closed 99th Avenue on Saturday afternoon. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

Approximately 20 people gathered outside of Chris Hewitt's house on 99 Avenue on Saturday to play in the annual Road Hockey Rumble. The popular tournament was first organized in 2008 as a way to celebrate Hewitt's 33rd birthday.

The event has kept to its roots and now incorporates a number of people's birthdays, but is also just a nice way to bring people together to play road hockey, said Hewitt. Hewitt, who played a lot of ball hockey as a child, said he enjoys organizing the event where friends can come together and have fun.

"Everyone can relate to playing some road hockey as youth," he said.

The fact the event is structured adds a competitive edge but, at the same time, it's primarily just for fun, said Hewitt.

Players hit the street in this year's rumble at approximately 1 p.m. The four teams played 10-minute games in the round robin.

After the round robin, Team 4 comprised of Rylan Hardisty-Gillis, Travis Wright, Paul Simon and Dwight Hardisty were tied with Team 1 which included Scott Whitmore, Julia Tsetso, Wayne Schuab and Justin Byatt. Both teams had two wins and one loss against

Team 4 was ranked first because it had defeated Team 1 in the round robin. Team 2 followed in third place and Team 3 came in fourth.

In the finals, Team 1 took the rumble championship, defeating Team 4 by a score of 3-2.

For Whitmore, who was the goalie for Team 1, it was his first tournament win; he has competed in the rumble for three years.

Whitmore's birthday is one of the ones the rumble celebrates, he turns a year older on Nov. 7 .

"Chris put on a well-organized tournament as usual," he said.

Whitmore's teammate Schuab, who was also competing for the third time, said he tries to make sure he's in the village so he doesn't miss the rumble.

"It's a major event," he said.

Hewitt said he enjoys having friends come together and play some fun games of road hockey. After four years people are still checking ahead to make sure it's happening and that's exciting, he said.

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