For the third year in a row, the Waterloo Engineering Society sponsored a team in the Waterloo Minor Hockey Association. Last Sunday, excited engineering students gathered at Albert McCormick Arena to show their support for the society’s team. The game was evenly matched, with the Waterloo Engineering Society “Little Plummers” (the nickname created by UW Engineers) playing the Piller’s. With personalized signs for every player lining the stands, and a lot of loud engineering spirit, the atmosphere in the rink was electric. It is hard to say who had the most fun: the players, the parents, or the engineering students in attendance. One thing is for sure though, the event was one to remember.
The game got off to a slow start with a 0-0 score in the first period, but then a strong showing by the Little Plummers in the second period led to three goals! The third period saw another three goals for the Plummers and in a nail-biter Piller’s started to mount a comeback scoring two goals. Fortunately, it was too late, and the Plummers came away with a 6-2 victory over their opponents. Congratulations are due to both teams on a very hard fought game! Each player skated strong, and every one of them has something to be proud of.
In the Spring 2013 term, the Engineering Society began researching into the process of sponsoring a minor sports team, settling on the Waterloo Minor Hockey Association. Waterloo Minor Hockey provides four levels of play, ranging from house league (recreational) to AAA. The Engineering Society’s team is made up of sixteen players born in 2006 in the recreational Minor Atom Division. The cost to sponsor a recreational team for the season is $400, which helps pay for jerseys and all the other costs of running the team. This is our third year sponsoring a team, and we have loved every minute of it!
The goal of sponsoring a team was to help out the community and show the Engineering Society’s support for giving back. By organizing a group to attend the game, the hope was to cheer like crazy and have the players feel like they are playing in the NHL. As a 9 year old, to have over 30 people randomly show up to your game and cheer non-stop for you for is probably about as exciting as it gets. Everyone at the game was ecstatic, with many parents requesting that we attend every game for the rest of the season. Though the loudness may have been a bit overwhelming to the players at times, it was easy to tell that they were enjoying every minute of it.
Having the Engineering Society logo on the back of the team’s jerseys and seeing the excitement that the players have to go out and represent the Society on the ice is worth much more than $400. This is an initiative that will last from year to year, and continue on as a tradition. There is massive potential to expand this to a larger scale in the coming years, with more events, more games to watch, more teams sponsored, and more kids who are able to have a great time and represent the Engineering Society. Whether this means attending more games, sponsoring different sports, sponsoring more teams, or expanding to have other societies on campus sponsor teams as well, this marks the continuation of a great tradition.
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