Sixteen players on the Centre Wellington Fusion Minor Midget AA hockey team are likely looking forward to this year’s Christmas break even more than usual.
From Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 the team will be travelling to Europe for a hockey tour through Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, where it will be matched against comparable AA teams.
“It’s a dream come true for all the boys,” said Lisa McColeman, whose youngest son Josiah plays on the team. “I’m sure it will be a great experience for them.”
The trip will cost $2,500 per player and the team has been fundraising since January, including bottle drives, 50-50 draws at home games, Elmira Poultry and Little Caesar’s pizza sales, and a golf tournament in Acton in September.
“Overall, we’ve had an awesome response from the community,” said McColeman. “It’s really exciting for the boys to see that people care.”
Plans are in place for a bake sale in Arthur on Nov. 18 and the team is also offering its services for fall clean-up duties in the area.
But the big fundraiser is an online auction from Nov. 11 to 18 through www.rapid-sell.ca, a division of David Moore and Associates Inc., whose owner also has a son on the team.
Over 250 items will be offered in the auction, ranging from a car to a shed to smaller items like sporting event tickets, furniture, hay and beef, and much more.
McColeman said anyone who donates to the auction will have a link to their own website posted on the auction site.
The team is also accepting corporate sponsors, who can have their name placed on a banner the team will take on the trip and also display at future home games.
The original goal was to raise the entire cost of the team trip, with anything beyond that donated to Groves hospital in Fergus – but McColeman explained the team has decided it will host another fundraiser for the hospital upon its return, even if it does not reach its goal for the trip to Europe.
“We’ve been really humbled by the response we’ve had,” she said.
Anyone interested in helping with any of the team’s fundraisers can call Lisa McColeman at 519-843-7519.
