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Six Mile hosts ball-hockey mayhem

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Six Mile pub owner David Wong faces off against Vancouver Island Brewery manager Scott Paziuk as Leanne Kopp

Inaugural tournament Saturday for prostate cancer fundraiser

The parking lot of the Six Mile Pub will transform into two ball hockey courts for a friendly tournament between West Shore businesses this Saturday.

Sixteen teams will battle it out from 1 to 5 p.m. on April 16 with 12-minute round-robin games and 15-minute playoff rounds. The event is a fundraiser for the Vancouver Island Prostate Centre.

Pub owner David Wong said the tournament is intended to be social, yet competitive. If players are seen checking each other or cussing on the court, they will have to pay $5 per offense to the charity — between that and the registration fees they’re aiming to raise $2,000.

“We want to keep it a clean family-friendly event,” Wong said. He is encouraging spectators to come out to watch and cheer on the teams.

Prizes donated from local businesses will be awarded for the top three finishers as well as for the best team name, team spirit and team uniform respectively. The winning team will take home jackets and ball caps from Vancouver Island Brewery and a trophy Wong had made for what he intends to make an annual event.

“I’d wanted to organize a ball hockey game for some time, as a way for the community to come together,” Wong said. “All these West Shore businesses have been working side-by-side for years, but rarely do we have a chance to get together around something fun.”

Wong had no problem selling out the spots for teams to participate. Some of the businesses and organizations entered in the tournament include Thrifty Foods, Costco, West Shore RCMP, and firefighters from View Royal and Colwood detachments.

Besides raising money for the Prostate Centre, Wong hopes the event will raise awareness around prostate cancer, which is 90 per cent curable when detected in early stages.

“It’s a cause a lot of our customer base at the pub should be interested in, because it affects middle-aged men,” Wong said.

After the age of 40 most men should have digital rectal exams annually to screen irregularities in the prostate. According to the Canadian Cancer Society, last year on Vancouver Island 775 men were diagnosed and 116 died from prostate cancer.

The Prostate Centre provides medical information, follow-up, psychological and peer counselling on prostate cancer and prostate health issues on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Island. Its main annual fundraising event is the Run/Walk for Prostate Cancer each Fathers Day (June 19) a Royal Roads University.

The Six Mile Pub plans to present the money it fundraised for the Centre at that event.

In addition to the hockey tournament, Six Mile collected $1 from every burger sale during the month of March, raising about $1,000.

The Six Mile pub is located at 494 Island Highway at Six Mile Road in View Royal.

news@goldstreamgazette.com