Jr. Senators’ Tuesday afternoon hockey game offers hope and help to Heron Gate neighbourhood

By: Tim Baines / Postmedia

While talking to Paul Howard, a youth advocate for Ottawa’s Heron Gate, a low-income neighbourhood, Jamie Mayo had an idea.

The general manager/associate coach of the Ottawa Jr. Senators hockey team wanted to find a way to help needy families. And Arena 1 at the Jim Durrell Sports Complex on Walkley Rd. was the place to do it. The Jr. Senators, who play in the Central Canada Hockey League, have a home game Tuesday (March 15) at 2:30 p.m. vs. Cornwall.

“I’ve been watching Paul’s posts on Twitter,” said Mayo. “I see him advocate for the people. I didn’t think at times we’d done enough to help out with our own community. I was talking to Paul and I said, ‘Why don’t we look at this as a way to help out the families?’ They’re being hit hard by gas prices, food prices – the cost of everything is through the roof. It’s an economically disadvantaged part of town. We really felt like a lot of families could benefit from this.

“Normally, we wouldn’t play an afternoon game. But because we lost so many games in December and January (the league was shut down because of the pandemic) we had to reschedule.”

So, the Heron Gate Community Game was born, played on an afternoon during March Break.

“It’s an amazing opportunity that the players and staff are looking forward to,” said Jr. Senators captain Thomas Freel. “The Heron Gate community could use an uplifting because of COVID and the high price of goods these days and hopefully at the same time we can entertain them with a great afternoon of hockey.”

Mayo was out Wednesday distributing free tickets to area elementary schools. Plus, he reached out to some friends who run businesses and came up with donations and gift cards to pass along to people who need it. In all, more than $2,000 has already been raised. The team is hoping for more (if anyone wants to help, contact Mayo at (613) 295-8020 or email him at jpmayo70@gmail.com).

“I asked some friends who own businesses in the south end if they could help,” said Mayo. “Getting cash is great, but I asked them to give me gift cards – Food Basics, Metro – we’re just looking for a way to help and it’s been an absolutely unbelievable response. Hopefully, we can send a bunch of kids home with gift cards for their family and help out the community where we play.

“As I dropped off the tickets, I met some of the principals and I could see how excited they were, how appreciative they were for their kids – that an organization would go out of its way to help out the kids and their families.”

There’s also the chance getting kids to come watch a junior hockey game will spark interest in something new; maybe some will want to learn how to play.

“People can walk to the arena – there are a lot of apartments and social housing near here – and watch the game,” said Mayo. “There are a lot of kids living in the neighbourhood. And if we can get any kid to suit up and play hockey (after watching), that’d be a win.”