听
Every year at the Wapella rink there鈥檚 a hockey tournament held in honour of Dakota Holloway.听
听
Holloway died at the age of 20, but his memory lives on through the tournament.
听
This year was supposed to be the seventh annual Dakota Holloway Memorial Hockey Tournament, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the tournament wasn鈥檛 able to happen.
听
Usually it鈥檚 a two-day tournament consisting of eight teams playing three-on-three hockey with a pancake breakfast on the Saturday morning and a roast beef dinner on the Saturday night, as well as a silent auction and shootout calcutta.听
听
The tournament raises funds for a $500 scholarship in Holloway鈥檚 name and the rest of the proceeds go towards the Wapella rink.听
听
The scholarship goes annually to a Wapella resident attending post-secondary school.
听
Previous years鈥� tournaments have raised at least $6,500 and as much as $9,300鈥攕pots in the tournament fill up quickly every year due to its popularity in the community. The previous six years of the tournament have combined to raise over $40,000.
听
A plaque within the rink honouring Holloway reads, 鈥渇unds donated from the tournament have been dedicated to improvements to the rink, where Dakota spent countless hours playing hockey with his friends and family. Missed dearly and never forgotten鈥︹��
听
Holloway was known for his passion for hockey, and his family says he spent all his free time at the rink, that鈥檚 why it鈥檚 the focus of keeping his memory alive.听
听
鈥淭he fundraiser is an important part of remembering Dakota鈥檚 passion for hockey and keeping the community connected,鈥� said Allan Holloway.听
听
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic leading to the cancellation of the hockey tournament, the organizers still wanted to award the scholarship in Dakota鈥檚 name this year.听
听
鈥淥bviously we weren鈥檛 able to do the tournament because of Covid restrictions, but it was important for us to still give a scholarship out,鈥� said Holloway.
听
On December 28, Allan Holloway awarded the $500 scholarship to Ashley Holloway, Dakota鈥檚 cousin.
听
鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to be able to award the scholarship to a member of the family this year,鈥� said Holloway. 鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping to increase the scholarship to $1,000 in the coming years.鈥�
听
Holloway鈥檚 sister, Afton Crumly, is one of the organizers and she was pleased they were still able to go forward with the scholarship even if there鈥檚 no tournament this year.
听
鈥淲e usually have a little bit of money we keep for startup costs each year so we still had some of that left over,鈥� said Crumly.听
听
鈥淪o we were unsure if we鈥檇 be sitting on it next year or be able to have another tournament so we just decided that since we鈥檇 still have money to start up next year then we might as well still hand out the scholarship and have enough money for next year as well if we鈥檙e still unable to hold a tournament. We still wanted to keep it known and talked about.鈥�
听
Getting to see the scholarship go to a member of the family is something Crumly thinks Dakota would be happy to see.
听
鈥淚t鈥檚 very cool that it鈥檚 going to a family member,鈥� said Crumly. 鈥淎shley鈥檚 older brother Riley was really good friends with one of our brothers so our families have always been really close. We just let the school randomly pick a scholarship winner each year so it was a really big surprise to everybody when they picked Ashley. It kind of touched everybody鈥檚 hearts a little bit because Dakota knew her very well and I think he would be quite happy that she was the one who got it this year.鈥�
听
The Covid-19 restrictions stopped the tournament from happening this year, but the organizers are hopeful it will return as soon as possible.
听
鈥淏randon Munro is the one who came up with the idea and he鈥檚 totally like, 鈥榳e can鈥檛 do this year, but we鈥檒l be ready to go for next year.鈥� You always worry with these things that it might die off and people won鈥檛 remember,鈥� said Crumly. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we wanted to make sure we did the scholarship.鈥�
听
