By Chris Lewis | Feb. 18, 2021
The Mount Pearl City Tire Blues have passed the first qualifying round in the Chevrolet Good Deeds Cup.
The promotion, in conjunction with Hockey Night in Canada, aims to take the sportsmanship and teamwork young athletes learn on the rink as hockey players and spread it beyond the ice and into their respective communities.
The winner of this national competition will receive a $100,000 donation to a charity of its choice.
The Mount Pearl City Tire Blues are one of 11 regional finalists announced this past weekend.
The recognition comes with a $2,000 donation to a charity of their choice, but the Blues hope to take it to the next level.
Last year, it was the Northeast Eagles from Torbay that came out of the Good Deeds Cup as champions after fundraising some $21,500 for the Rainbow Riders Therapeutic Riding Centre. Their success ultimately resulted in an extra $100,000 being donated to that charity.
Roary MacPherson, manager of the Blues, said the team has put a lot of thought into their pitch thus far, and it has clearly proven to be a solid plan.
He said the Blues players and parents recognized the mental health impacts that a pandemic like this, and the isolation that comes with it, can have on younger people.
“The common theme they brought up was just about having someone to talk to,” MacPherson said. “They said finding someone to talk to can be a bit of a challenge for young people sometimes. Some just don’t know where to go to find that, or not being comfortable talking to certain people in their lives.”
From there, he said they started doing a little research on the Kids’ Help Phone and found how beneficial it can be.
“They thought it was a great tool,” he said. “It gives a chance to talk for many kids, the majority of whom have cell phones these days.”
MacPherson said voting for the champion of the competition is continuing until Feb. 24. Anyone looking to vote can do so at www.chevroletgooddeedscup.ca.
