Strong, a Missisauga resident, is the winner of a national contest that invited Canadian children to explain what playing strong, clean and fair hockey meant to them.
With a little help from his father, Jim, Strong's winning entry demonstrated the importance of teamwork, a positive attitude and having fun. It also earned the fans a trip to cheer for Team Canada in the world championships currently going on in Halifax.
"We're both really big hockey fans," said Billy of his father. "And we're really excited to get to go to the world championships to see the opening game of Team Canada. I play goalie for the Clarkson Hurricanes and I think playing fair and playing clean hockey are the two important things which make hockey so much fun.”
“Playing fair means that everyone is following the rules and you know what to expect," added Billy. "Playing clean hockey means that players are treating one another with respect, and not trying to hurt one another.”
The contest was organized by Henkel, a company that makes cosmetics and personal care products. It was open to Canadians ages six-to-16 years of age and asked the contestants to write an essay on about playing fair and clean hockey.
“As a second year sponsor of the upcoming 2008 IIHF World Championship, and as supporters of hockey at many skill levels, we launched the contest because the survey showed that Canadians were concerned about their national pastime and we thought that Canadian children might bring an interesting perspective to the discussion,” said John Schofield, vice president of Henkel Consumer Goods Canada Inc.
rpanjwani@mississauga.net
