PORT HARDY — Canada created a legend with its pond hockey. The Brian Burns Memorial Street Hockey Tournament gave spectators an idea what the sport might look like when the pond is not frozen.
When the rain that fell sporadically on Port Hardy’s Filomi Days revelers turned into a deluge Saturday afternoon, the games went on.
On Hastings Street, ball hockey players sent rooster tails of water into the air with shots and passes. At Beaver Harbour Park, slo-pitch players slid through puddles and mud bogs around the bases. At Port Hardy Secondary School’s fields, competitors in the 7-a-side soccer tournament tried to run and cut on a Slip-n-Slide of overgrown grass. At Carrot Park, 3-on-3 volleyball players tried to control their bumps and sets in a curtain of rain.
Of the numerous athletic endeavors that drew the North Island’s weekend warriors last weekend, only the stock car racing was cancelled due to the soggy conditions.
Sunday saw a respite from the soggy summer, and the activities continued in more favourable conditions. Youngsters took the wheel in the annual soapbox derby; strongman competition musclemen flipped large truck tires and hefted large axes, and the soccer and slo-pitch finals were completed.
2011 Filomi Days
Sports results
Filomi Slo-pitch
At Beaver Harbour Park
A Division
Final: Blue Sox 16, Bushrats 1. Third: Bandits. Fourth: Load ‘em Up. Female MVP: Laina Hunko, Bushrats. Male MVP: Len Miller, Blue Sox.
B Division
Final: Talons 1, Port Alice 0. Third: Generals. Fourth: Master Batters. Female MVP: Shannon Laflamme, Talons. Male MVP: Lou Klein-Beekman, Port Alice.
C Division
Final: Salmon Kings 7, Rez 1. Third: Ballerz. Female MVP: Angela Krawietz, Salmon Kings. Male MVP: Richard Nelson, Rez.
Strongman competition
Heavyweight: Jamaine Campbell
Lightweight: Ben Perlini
7-a-side Soccer
Men’s final
Liatchwilatch United def. North Island Selects
Women’s final
Alert Bay def. North Island Selects
7-under champion
Kwakiutl
Volleyball
1. Team B (Ryan Tanaka, Shoshanna Kervin, Anthony Heinrichs)
2. Team Players (Christina Fedorak, Sam Poirier, Mark Hutchinson, Margaret Waldstein)
3. Full Force (Whitney Falconer, Garrett Gildersleeve, Jordan Campbell, Cortney Darling, Tristan Gale)