It was a tale of two seasons for the Flaming Hawks.
The peanut (U8) squad was 1-7 over the first half of the season in the Valley Ball Hockey Association.
The record was not much of a surprise, according to coach Chadd Little.
“With me as a first-year head coach, not knowing a thing about ball hockey, and with all the first year players and my assistant coaches’ first year coaching, we went into the season as a learning experience to build for next season,” Little said.
“But with us keeping everything positive with the players, not looking at the scoreboards, but how much better they were getting at the rink, game by game, they grew into the Flaming Hawks that we are today.”
The Flaming Hawks went 4-1-3 over the second half and capped things off by winning the VBHA championship with a 5-2 victory over the Bolts on Saturday (June 14) at the George Preston Recreation Centre.
The win also advances the team to the provincial ball hockey championships in Victoria June 20 to 22.
“We were very proud of where we were from where we started,” Little said.
“There are a lot of better teams than us in our league, but one thing about our Hawks, they never give up, they kept battling till the end.”
A perfect example of this was in the semifinals against the Golden Hawks, when the team lost their starting goalie to injury in the first half. Trailing 2-1 with three minutes to go, the team tied things up and then potted the winner with a minute to play.
And Little said the team used that energy in the finals, holding one of the highest scoring teams to two goals in the 5-2 victory.