Chestermere, AB – Tragedy struck twice for the communities of Chestermere and Strathmore in the summer of 2015 as two remarkable young men were lost in separate vehicle accidents. Jaydon Sommerfeld and Markus Lavallee were well known in the local sports community as outstanding athletes and strong team players.
As the fall hockey season began, Chestermere Lakers coach Ted Laing wanted to do something significant to honour Markus’ legacy in particular as he had grown up playing his tyke, novice, atom, and peewee with the Lakers team and had eventually reached the M15 Raiders and Strathmore’s Midget AAA team.
“Markus was a great leader that kids could look up to on and off the ice,” said Laing. “We dedicated our season to his memory but wanted to really remind the kids of what he stood for and encourage them to ‘play like Markus’.”
Inspired by the Calgary Flames’ tradition of giving a fire helmet to outstanding players, Laing contacted Chestermere Fire Services (CFS) to see if they would be interested in helping out.
“The professionalism and team work that firefighters demonstrate are the things we also want our players to emulate, so we felt that partnering with them would be a good fit,” said Laing.
The fire crews were more than happy to support the team. “When Coach Ted approached us, I thought this was a great way to help promote the strong values that Markus lived by – values that we share as firefighters,” said Acting Fire Chief Brian Pomrenke.
The crews ended up providing not only a helmet but informally adopting the team for the season. They gave the players a tour of the department, hosted dryland training sessions at the fire hall gym and attended games when possible.
“There are so many parallels between a hockey team and the emergency services team. It’s been fantastic for our crews to be able to act as mentors to this group of young people. Working with the team has been a great reminder to us that you really can have a big impact even with small actions,” said Pomrenke.
Small acts of inspiration were recognized at the end of each game, when the helmet that CFS provided was given to the player who had shown the most heart and worked the hardest, someone who had ‘played like Markus.’ By the end of the season, every player had been awarded the helmet.
On Sunday, January 24th, at the team’s last regular season game, the helmet, bearing the signature and number of each player, was presented to Shantelle Lavallee, Markus’ mom.
“We wanted to let her know that the whole community is still behind her,” said Laing. “We are still thinking of Markus and the want to let her know that his legacy will not be forgotten.”
“Words can not express the gratitude, love and support we feel for this thoughtful and kind gesture from Coach Ted, the Peewee players, their parents and the Chestermere Fire Department,” said Shantelle. “To honor Markus in such a way, warmed our hearts in a way that we’ll forever remember. The Play Like Markus award that was gifted to our family to honor Markus and the many years he played in Chestermere as a Laker will be treasured in our family all the years of our lives. Thank you also Wyatt, the team’s captain, for the amazing presentation. We know Markus was so proud, as were we.”
The Lakers are currently in the playoffs and the crews at Chestermere Fire Services wishes them the best as they wrap up their season.
“It has meant a lot to our crews to be able to work with this great group of young players and be inspired by them in return,” said Pomrenke. “We plan to cheer them on as they finish this season and hope that we can keep this partnership going for many more years to come.”
For more information about Chestermere Fire Services, visit www.chestermere.ca/cfs.
