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Cloverdale Minor Hockey Association celebrates 50 years

Special ceremony held at Cloverdale Arena Oct. 20

The Cloverdale Minor Hockey Association turned 50 this year.

To mark the occasion, the association held a special ceremony Oct. 20 at Cloverdale Arena.

Mayor-elect Brenda Locke was on hand to drop the puck for a ceremonial faceoff between Cloverdale and South Delta ahead of their U18 A1 game.

“It was a great night and worth celebrating,” Locke said. “Fifty years for an Association is quite awesome.”

Locke added her kids played both hockey and ringette and going into a rink gives her special memories.

“There’s just something about being in an arena that is so positive and uplifting.”

Locke also recognized while youth sports is about kids, it takes an army of adults to make things run smoothly.

“I just give so much praise to coaches, team moms, and volunteers,” said Locke. “They just do so much work for kids. I believe in youth sports. It’s so important because it literally changes kids’ lives.”

Deanna Cox, CMHA president, also said the night went well.

The ceremony was sandwiched in between two games, a U15 A1 game beforehand and a U18 A1 game afterward.

SEE ALSO: Cloverdale Colts U15 team wins gold in Langford

SEE ALSO: Cloverdale’s U18 A1 Colts fall short in bronze medal game

SEE ALSO: New exhibit celebrates 50 years of the Cloverdale Minor Hockey Association

“It was a nice ceremony,” said Cox. “We had four city officials on hand, we had representatives from the Kwantlen Nation there, and it turned out pretty good. Kevin Kelly and Michael Gabriel-Kelly from Kwantlen Nation shared a First Nations welcome.”

Other city officials in attendance included, councillor Linda Annis, councillor-elect Rob Stutt, and councillor-elect Mike Bose. Both Bose and Stutt are lifetime members of the Cloverdale Minor Hockey Association.

Cox spoke during the ceremony and recounted some of the history of the Association to those in attendance.

“I went through a short history of (the CMHA) and what we are hoping to achieve in the next little bit, which includes growing the Association in anticipation of the opening of the new arena.”

After the ceremonial puck drop, the CMHA raised the U15 A1 championship banner from the 2021-2022 season.

“We had a banner-raising ceremony for them and it will be permanently mounted on the wall at a later date.”

Cox added that it was nice to be able to recognize the U15 players that won that championship in Langford this past March.

Cox said the ceremony was well-attended. She added there are a few other 50th celebration events planned for the CMHA to celebrate its milestone.

“We’re working on an alumni event, we’re going to be a part of the (Santa) Parade, and we’ll have a few more things throughout the year.”

For more info about those events and the Cloverdale Minor Hockey Association, visit their webpage at cloverdaleminorhockey.teamsnapsites.com. CMHA can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.



editor@cloverdalereporter.com

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Malin Jordan

About the Author: Malin Jordan

Malin is the editor of the Cloverdale Reporter.
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