The Humboldt Special Olympics floor hockey team has been named "Team of the Year" at the provincial and national level (Facebook/Special Olympics Saskatchewan - Humboldt and District).

By Aaron Schulze

Team of the Year

Team of the Year: Humboldt floor hockey receives honour from Special Olympics Canada

Dec 4, 2020 | 5:53 PM

National and provincial, it’s the same honour for Humboldt Special Olympics floor hockey team.

The Special Olympics Broncos were officially recognized as Special Olympics Canada’s Team of the Year during a one-hour broadcast on TSN, coming two months after Special Olympics Saskatchewan gave them the same recognition provincially.

One of the coaches with the Humboldt floor hockey team – Brian Reifferscheid – said the coaches knew of the national recognition around the same time as they received the provincial honour. He said Special Olympics Canada wanted the coaches to get the athletes’ ring size, but not to tell them what it was for.

“The athletes didn’t know we were team of the year Canada until the rings arrived a month ago,” Reifferscheid told northeastNOW. “We had a get together with the group to give them the rings and tell them what happened, and we did short videos with each of them to send back to TSN to edit to put on for awards night. There was hooting and hollering and lots of cheering. It was an exciting and electric atmosphere to be in when we made the announcement.”

Most of the athletes on the Humboldt floor hockey have been together for nearly 15 years. Reifferscheid said the team became especially close following the 2018 Humboldt Broncos bus crash. The group pulled it together and made it to the 2020 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games in Thunder Bay. Reifferscheid added they’ve also came home with numerous medals at the provincial level.

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“Having fun has always been the most important part of anything we’ve done,” he said. “Winning has always been a bonus; all comes hand and hand. [Being named Team of the Year] puts us right in the top as far as the achievements we’ve been able to get.”

While the team hasn’t been able to get together and play much amidst the coronavirus pandemic, Reifferscheid said they have two goals. The first is to get back to their routine whenever it’s safe to do so.

The second…

“We’re going to have a hell of a party when we’re in the position to do so,” Reifferscheid laughed.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow