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RANKIN INLET
The annual Powerful Peewees hockey tournament had an added attraction this past month when a team from Manitoba participated in it for the first time.

The Winnipeg Seals rode the hot goaltending of Jackson Wallis to a 2-1 victory over the Rankin Rock to claim the tournament championship.

But that was only part of the story.

The trip to the Kivalliq came about as a result of one of the players, Brett Fotheringham, wanting to return to the town where he grew up to play hockey again.

Brett's family moved to Winnipeg about three years ago so his mom, Tara, could earn her university degree.

When the Seals' head coach for the 2011-2012 season decided to go to a higher team at the last minute, Brett's dad, Bryan, took over.

Brett continued to talk about returning to Rankin, so Tara and Bryan reached out to the parents of the other players on the team and a fundraising drive began.

The parents and players worked for months to raise money for the trip.

First Air offered a discounted rate for the trip and the Seals were on their way to Rankin with a lot of excitement and, not knowing what to expect, a little apprehension.

Brett said he totally enjoyed the experience.

He said the tournament was great, and so was seeing all his old friends once again.

"I enjoyed seeing my friends and getting to play against them," said Brett.

"It was all a lot of fun.

"I was a little disappointed my best friend (Tyrese Dias) had a broken collar bone and couldn't play, but we still got to spend a lot of time together."

Tara said the parents were able to put together a giant raffle as their main fundraiser for the trip.

She said players went door-to-door selling the tickets, which featured a pair of tickets to a Winnipeg Jets game.

"We also held a couple of bottle drives and a wing night, and a number of the parents chipped in some items for the raffle," said Tara.

"First Air was very good to us, donating a pair of tickets to our raffle as well as offering us a great rate.

"We were all so happy the weather co-operated, because it was spring break for us when the tournament ran.

"We were also lucky in that this was the best group of parents we've had with the team in our three years here."

The young players experienced numerous aspects of Rankin life during their stay.

All said they found the people to be very nice, and noted a visit to the home of Rose and Barney Tootoo as a highlight of the trip.

Team captain Adam Vis said he was impressed with how good many of the teams were at the tournament.

He said the food was great during their stay, especially at the Sugar Rush, and the players loved staying at the dorm.

"It was all fun, but it was great to visit Jordin Tootoo's old house and get to see all his trophies, medals and stuff," said Vis.

"Another thing I really like about Rankin is all the great views.

"There are some really, really nice views here."

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