Novice team skates out in style
DJ Specialties outfits entire novice division of Iqaluit Amateur Hockey Association with new jerseys and socks
James McCarthy
Northern News Services
Monday, January 23, 2017
IQALUIT
Businesses in Iqaluit, and the territory for that matter, always step up to sponsor youth teams, regardless of the sport.
But this may be the first time a business has decided to outfit an entire division of hockey players.
DJ Specialties made sure the Iqaluit Amateur Hockey Association's novice division look their best every Saturday by donating brand new uniforms and socks for every single player. The donation was made to the division at the Arnaitok Arena on Jan. 14 by Mona Godin-Bayne, the store's manager.
Godin-Bayne was unable to be reached for comment as of press time but Wanda Joy, the association's president, said it was just the latest in a long line of generous things the company has done for the association.
"They've always helped us out whenever we've needed it, whether it's bingos or selling raffle tickets," she said. "This just added to their generosity over the years."
The young players were certainly wide-eyed once the new loot was presented to them and Joy said it wasn't hard to see the excitement.
"The jerseys are nice, bright colours," she said. "The parents were so happy and thankful, as we were."
It all came about after the store reached out to Jordan Kennedy, head coach of the novice division, and offered to outfit every player.
"We have over 50 kids playing in the novice division this year and they're big enough that they're able to have their own house league," said Joy. "We've had companies sponsor separate things before, such as team jackets or teams themselves, but I can't remember one company ever looking after the uniforms for an entire division."
The cost of outfitting everyone isn't known but Joy figured it didn't come cheap.
"We were looking at getting some jerseys replaced for one of our teams and we were quoted $80 a piece," she said. "If you take that math and use it for what DJ Specialties did, and include the socks, I'm sure it cost them thousands of dollars, for sure. "We're just thankful for their continued support of the work we do and this is just icing on the cake."
