The road hockey team poses for a group photo during its Wednesday evening practice before heading to Vancouver on September 14. Back row left to right, Shelley Kirs, Denise Miller, Angie Boisclair, Jodi LaRosee and Courtney Streeter. Front row left to right, Maggie Strong, Sonya Mason Theresa Garofalo and Moira Brooks.
Erin Christie photo
GINA’S Rock, Oliver’s all-female road hockey team, returned from the Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer tournament the same way they left – in good spirits.
The annual dawn to dusk event, held at Concord Pacific Place, raises funds and awareness for the BC Cancer Society.
The fun-loving ladies played five games and raised an impressive $13,600 for the BC Cancer Society, the bulk of which was raised within the last three weeks.
Thanks to the community’s support, the team made it into the top 20 (fundraisers), which qualified them for the celebrity draft, said team captain Denise Miller.
The team played with country singer Aaron Pritchett, Baxter Bayer (organizer for RHCC) and Matt Butcher (Matt’s dad Garth Butcher played defence for the Canucks). Miller’s son Hunter also played with the team.
It was Hunter who inspired Miller to start the team last year after losing his grandfather to lung cancer, just two months after Hunter himself was declared cancer-free.
Miller said the team lost every game they played this year but they still had a blast and look forward to competing again.
GINA’s Rock is an acronym for Giving In Is Not Acceptable. They raised over $14,000 last year.
Erin Christie
Oliver Chronicle
