A worthy weekend cause

Josh Gorges and Blake Comeau   

• In what can only described as the best charity event I have been involved with in my time in Kelowna, the KGH Foundation's first ever Gorges-Comeau 'Home Base' Slo-Pitch tournament was a massive success. The support the Foundation received during Friday's celebrity slo-pitch game at Kings Stadium was astonishing. I didn't know what to expect, but I had a good feeling that the event would be a massive hit when Josh Gorges and Blake Comeau put their names behind raising funds for JoeAnna's House. But again, you just don't know how it is going to be perceived in the community. For those wondering, JoeAnna's House will be a home away from home for families with out of town patients receiving specialized care at KGH.     
• Being involved in this particular event was special on a number of levels. As a parent of twin boys, who are now healthy 15 year-old's, we were treated like gold at Kelowna General Hospital when they were born, prematurely, in February of 2003. Connell and Jace were required to stay in incubators for two weeks and were syringe fed so they could eventually gain enough weight to go home with us. Had we not lived in Kelowna, how could we afford to see our babies on a daily basis while  facing the challenge of the high risk pregnancy? That is where a place like JoeAnna's House comes into play. For parents of sick children at KGH, they will now have a place to stay - for free. 
• The other reason why I was so pleased to be involved in the Gorges-Comeau celebrity game Friday night was my affiliation with the players. With all the participants, I have had some form of interaction with them over my 23 years in the Western Hockey League. I traveled many miles on the bus with Gorges and Comeau and have had the luxury of seeing the likes of Carey Price, Brent Seabrooke and Brendan Gallagher play junior hockey before they became household names. Only Tyson Jost, J.T Compher and Alexander Kerfoot were somewhat foreign to me. Jost, who played midget hockey with the Okanagan Rockets, played his junior hockey with the Penticton Vees while Compher and Kerfoot went the NCAA route. To say the event was right in my wheel house would be an understatement considering the  relationships built over the years.
• Speaking of the players, hats off to them for volunteering for the event. Without them, it doesn't have the star power that it justly deserves. I am sure both Josh and Blake were busy recruiting players with many of them bending over backwards to attend. It really shows the heart that these guys have to help others while using their profile for the greater good. Whether flying or driving to Kelowna from out of town, the contribution they made by simply being there cannot be understated.    
• Outside of the tremendous support of the community and first year sponsors of this event, what really impressed me was the team that was assembled by the KGH Foundation to pull it all off. Meeting with them in the Bell Media conference room in June, I wasn't sure what to expect. While swimming in uncharted waters to put on an event of this magnitude, they were as prepared as ever and had all hands on deck to make it a success. If you want to see what organized and attention to detail is all about, the KGH Foundation team had it going on! High five to Chandel Schmidt, Lindsay-Anne Dow, Shauna Nyrose and Mitch Carefoot, to name a few for the tremendous energy and ideas they brought to the table. It was fun working with them. 
• I thought Mitch Carefoot was a star Friday night. Known as 'Rover Mitch', Carefoot worked the crowd to perfection with a number of games and his interaction with fans was solid. Like the players and fans, Carefoot was there to have fun and pulled it off in spades.         
• The sold out event has me hoping it returns again next summer. How can it not? I think it can be bigger and better as it gains traction. While no fundraising goal was set, nor has a final total been released on how much money was raised, this is going be one of the biggest events on the Kelowna calendar in the month of June. My hope is to be involved again in 2019.
• I wasn't sure what type of level of play we would see Friday night. Hockey players rarely play ball in the summer. It is often the norm to witness them on the golf course, but a bat and ball in-hand is very rare. That said, I thought the level of play was pretty high and the players ability not to take themselves too seriously only added to the fun of the evening. 
• Purely on skill alone, the three NHL players that stood out for me were Jordin Tootoo, Damon Severson and Brendan Gallagher. Tootoo was named the MVP for his home-run and stellar play in centre field. Severson played a lot of baseball in his hometown of Melville growing up, and it showed. I thought Gallagher also looked like no stranger to the game, which was clearly evident by the rare sighting of baseball cleats worn by a handful of the 25 players participating in the event. 
• For the record, Team Gorges beat Team Comeau 19-14. In what looked like a runaway for Team Gorges, Team Comeau rallied in the bottom of the 9th inning to make it close. Blake Comeau hit three consecutive home-runs to make it interesting. Why was he allowed to make three consecutive appearances at the plate? In a charity slo-pitch game, there is often a very gray area when it comes to the rule book. 
• Sources tell me that Team Gorges was using Vaseline on Team Comeau's bats before the slippery substance was finally detected. We should have clued in when Carey Price (Team Gorges) was seen running into Team Comeau's dugout, pulling out a series of bats and then quickly running back to his own dugout. The Vaseline likely contributed to Team Comeau's inability to get the ball out of the infield in the first 7 innings.  
• What would I change from the inaugural Gorges-Comeau slo-pitch fundraiser? Outside of the weather, which was cloudy and significantly cooler for that time of the year with the odd rain shower, not a thing. It exceeded my expectations. I hope others feel the same way. My wish is for you to be there next year to support the KGH Foundation and make it even better.