Westmount Elementary School hosts annual Husky Cup

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Westmount Elementary School hosted their annual Husky Cup at the Strathmore Family Centre, Feb. 25, marking the culmination and conclusion of their hockey and ringette programs for the season.

Grade 5-6 students are eligible to participate in the hockey and ringette programs, which are each open to both male and female students. Grade 4 students are also able to participate in ringette. 

“This runs typically from September through March, and it culminates with what we call the Husky Cup, and so we break our players up into the white Huskies and the black Huskies and then they play off against each other to see who the winner is going to be,” said Adam Baxter, vice principal at Westmount Elementary School. “We broke this year up into a 22-minute ringette session, followed by a couple of periods of hockey after just so we have both sports showcased.”

Baxter explained the students participating in the hockey and ringette programs train separately throughout the season with specialized coaches for each, coming together at the end of the program to celebrate the respective sports. 

Westmount’s ringette players typically take to the ice on a number of Fridays throughout the course of the program, often coordinating with junior high ringette and developing a connection between schools. 

The hockey program runs two days a week for the Grade 5-6, often lasting roughly 2.5 hours, attributing for travel, ice, and lunch times all considered. 

“I think you see a lot of growth and confidence within our students. Some of our students may get into the program, they have never played an ice sport before, but it is a really safe environment for them to learn in,” said Baxter. “They get on the ice, they learn what to do, and they are happy and growing and confident in themselves.”

Similar to a classroom environment, the on-ice students are differentiated for different levels. Students who are starting out with preexisting histories in their sports will train differently from students who are being introduced to the ice for potentially the first time.

Baxter added the Husky Cup has been operating for more than the last five years, having been established before he began working at Westmount Elementary. In that time, the event has become something of an occasion for students to become extremely excited for. 

“We have to coach them to cheer and not scream, but they pick a side and they pick the older classmates who they know and then they get really behind it and they cheer,” he said. 

“I just think for the whole school, there is a lot of excitement around it and it is a really nice event for them.”

This year, roughly 50 students enrolled in the hockey program, and roughly 14 were enrolled in ringette. 

Following the Husky Cup, Westmount Elementary transitions into a multi-sport program for the spring in order to give Grades 4-6 students opportunities to engage in other sports.