The recent Macquarie Rink of Dreams charity hockey event raised its highest total since it started in 2011, donating just shy of $120,000 to Help Fill a Dream.
The 24-hour hockey game at Bear Mountain Arena, ran March 23 to 24. Player entries, raffles and a silent auction brought in just shy of $60,000. Each year the funds raised is matched by the Macquarie Foundation.
“We’re quite pleased to see it bounce back up after it dropped from $52,000 ($104,000) in year one to $44,000 ($88,000) in year two,” said organizer Harp Sandhu of Macquarie Investments.
Rink of Dreams has happened in March for its first three years but Sandhu and co-ordinators are looking at moving it to September for 2014.
“It’s a serious consideration based on initial feedback, with the event falling tentatively on the third weekend of September,” Sandhu said.
Though there were a lot of new teams participating this season a number of past participating teams did not return due to spring break, and general sense of being “hockey’d out.”
“Even though the weather was great (for March), the thinking is it could be that much better at the beginning of the hockey season, in September, when we know the weather is sensational.”