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St. Thomas Aquinas Stingers face off against Nottawasaga OPP in charity game

March 9, 2023   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

It was cops versus students on the ice at the Tottenham Community Centre arena during a charity hockey game in support of the Tottenham Food Bank.

The pandemic postponed the charity game for the last few years. However, the St. Thomas Aquinas Stingers were back on the ice on Wednesday, Mar. 1, to face the Ontario Provincial Police Civics from the Nottawasaga Detachment.

The game raised funds and donations for the local food bank. It also gave police officers and students the opportunity to get to know each other and spread a little goodwill.

“We’ve got 12 or 13 players,” explained OPP team captain Doug Robbins. “Pretty much everyone is from the Nottawasaga detachment, and also there are some husbands of members of the detachment. We were able to get some new guys. A lot of people haven’t been out on the ice for a while, so this is good. We’re playing three periods, and after the first period we’ll be doing a puck toss.”

The game began at noon, and several hundred STA students packed the arena to be part of the excitement.

“We’ve got both guys and girls out here today,” explained Constable Katy Viccary, community safety officer and media relations for the Nottawasaga Detachment. “We have our crisis worker from the detachment, we’ve got our school resource officers, and platoon guys who are coming off of the road on their day off, and our operation manager.”

The pandemic put a hold on local games, but they have now resumed.

“Prior to the pandemic we were doing charity games with all the high schools in the area,” Constable Viccary said. “It was a buy-out situation where they could bring a non-perishable food item, or a buy-out from class. In the past, the participation was wild. It’s a good way for our officers and youth to interact with each other, especially since we haven’t had that opportunity for the past couple of years. Today, we are having a charity hockey game in support of the Tottenham Food Bank. All of the non-perishable food and cash donations will go directly to the Food Bank. We have representatives from the OPP all the way up to our Staff Sergeant.”

The Stingers won the game 9-7.

The enthusiastic crowd made a lot of noise for the players and provided an exciting afternoon for everyone involved.

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