Sam’s Jam grows to twice the size
By Craig Westcott
The Sam’s Jam ball hockey tournament slated for Admiral’s Academy in Kelligrews this summer is going to be even bigger than the first one held last year that filled the parking lot and much of the environs around the school with caged hockey “rinks” and concessions.
The street hockey tournament in memory of the late primary school student and hockey player, Sammy Porter, will be held July 6-7.
This year’s event will feature 154 teams from throughout the province.
“That’s close on 1,400 kids who will be participating in this,” said CBS councillor-at-large Paul Connors, who happens to be Sammy’s uncle. “And I’m estimating 6,000 people who will be around and out and about during those two days just for that event. So, it looks like it’s going to be another great event. It’s right at the beginning of the Kelligrews Soiree, of course, and I’m looking forward to that happening again this year.”
Mayor Darrin Bent said the tournament will mean a lot of activity around the school, which is located on the main road in Kelligrews.
“I’d encourage anybody, even if you’re not involved, to come out,” Bent added. “There are food trucks there and stuff like that. It’s just a great community atmosphere and it’s great to be able to host all of the people in from out of town to that ball hockey tournament.”
The first Sam’s Jam, organized by the Sammy’s Climb Higher Foundation, which was established to raise money in Sammy Porter’s honour to help children afford the registration fees and equipment costs of participating in organized sports, hosted some 85 teams. Porter was six years old when he was lost due to drowning in 2022. The avid young sportsman was known to observe that it was unfair that not all of his buddies could afford to play sports. It was that sentiment that inspired his family to establish the foundation in his name.