Goalie camp memorializes slain brothers, offers opportunity for young players | 24CA News
A memorial hockey camp being held in reminiscence of two slain Spruce Grove brothers is providing younger goalies a novel alternative.
It’s the primary yr of R&R Memorial Camp, which was began by Tracy Stark, the mom of Ryder and Radek, brothers who have been killed by their father in a murder-suicide greater than six years in the past.
For Stark, the free camp will not be solely an opportunity to offer a terrific expertise for teenagers, nevertheless it’s additionally a possibility to honour her sons, each of whom have been large hockey gamers who dreamed of taking part in within the NHL.
“It’s kind of emotional, overwhelming to see all these little kids wearing the R&R and sticking the stickers on and doing it. … It’s for my boys,” she mentioned. “If they were here, they’d be part of it. I know my youngest, he would just be so happy he got a free jersey and free sticker and a free water bottle. He would be all for that.”
The boys have been solely 13 and 11 years outdated after they have been killed on the finish of 2016.
Nic Melnychuk, the lead coach for the camp, was pals with Ryder and his youthful brother Radek, and likewise Ryder’s teammate. The likelihood for him to be a part of the camp that honours the brothers is particular for Melnychuk.
“Honestly, it’s an honour and I hope we can keep their legacy alive and I want to do this camp every year,” he mentioned.
“When I was coaching and playing it helped me improve my game and now that I’m just coaching I just want to give back to these kids and get them better.”
The intention of the camp is to take away the monetary burden that comes with having a toddler who needs to attend a goalie camp. The camp was funded by sponsorships, money donations and tools and swag donations from the area people.
“We had a lot of good feedback with goalies and people were saying, ‘My son’s a goalie or my daughter’s a goalie but there’s not a lot of goalie camps for my kids to be enrolled in,’” Stark mentioned.
Kaydence Danilkiewicz, one among 24 goalies collaborating within the camp, mentioned she’s already studying rather a lot.
“The skating is going to help me in later goalie things,” mentioned the eight-year-old, who’s having fun with specializing in simply goaltending abilities.
The camp is one thing that Stark feels her boys could be happy with.
“They would love it. They (would be) proud of where we’ve gone with their society and I just want to get bigger and bigger and get our names out there and help more and more kids across Alberta,” she mentioned.
— with recordsdata from Slav Kornik, Global News
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
