Recently the Knights had the opportunity to play in a mixed friendly game with the Canucks Autism Network Stingrays. It was a fun filled game where the Knights and the Stingrays mixed the teams ups and had fun. Lots of goals were scored and plenty of fun. Tears filled parents eyes as players from both sides learned about kindness and leadership. The organizer of the event wished to share her gratitude for the effort from the Knights players and sent an email in which the following excerpt comes from;
Surrey Knights, if I could ever imagine what real-life knights are like, your team embodies it. The kindness, leadership and professionalism that exudes from each player to coaching staff and management/ownership is first class. You had myself and my colleague amazed and pleasantly weepy multiple times over for how your team operates on and off the ice. I mentioned to your coaching staff that what we saw over the weekend not only comes from who the players are as individuals, but also from the positive encouragement and expectations set by all of you – they are in good hands so long as you are there to guide them in the right direction.
Please pass this message along to the Knights players:
Thank you so much for your warm welcome to the Stingrays! Your participation in a one-hour scrimmage with our team goes beyond that timeframe in so many ways. The impact that you’ve established with us will find its way into your own communities by you already being advocates for inclusion from a young age. Your being goes beyond a hockey team in the present day to you becoming future leaders in all aspects of what you’ll do and wherever life takes you.
On the ice, we saw incredible initiative from each and every one of you. From your goalie encouraging ours with regular check-ins and high-fives, to several moments where you immediately jumped in to model appropriate behaviors and provided support when our players became increasingly upset or frustrated. Please know that you are true role models to the Stingrays beyond hockey skills, you are already empowering your peers and making room for inclusion for your generation and ones that follow.
Your natural abilities to step up to the plate is an inspiration to all of us and this has yet to be seen anywhere else where we bridge our programs with the wider community. To say that we are impressed is an understatement and we look forward to working with you more in the seasons to come!
The Surrey Knights are very proud to have such a partnership with the Stingrays and the Canucks Autism Network and look to continue it for years to come.
