Hockey fun for everyone
Fans and non-fans can enjoy school sports
Ah, high school sports. The crowds of your peers, the sea of your school colours, the cheers and I guess the sports as well.
The Riverview Redmen had their first win of the 2018-19 hockey season last week at County Arena. A 4-1 victory over Memorial High School. Go Redmen!
I am no sports expert or commentator, not at all, and I would never claim to be. So if you’re an actual hockey or sports fan looking to find some factual journalism about the game, I’d suggest you skip reading this — I just know how to cheer when everyone else is cheering and to cheer even louder when there’s a fight on the ice.
Going to a hockey game is like a two-for-one deal, you get to watch hockey (which may be entertaining enough for some) and you get to watch the crowd.
I’ll be honest, I spent less than 30 per cent of the night watching the actual hockey game, you know, the thing I paid to see. The rest of the evening was spent watching my fellow Riverview students chant various Riverview-themed cheers and trip up and down County Arena’s stands.
In typical busy-me-fashion, I was 10 minutes late, or so I thought. I actually arrived on time, before the official puck drop, but ended up having to wait outside in the cold in my Red Cup shirt (from earlier this year) for 10 minutes.
Once I bought my ticket and made it into the rink, the puck hadn’t been dropped yet, so I didn’t even miss the start of the first period. When I walked in and saw the sea of red and white, I knew I was in for a good, and very loud, night.
With great home-team hospitality, we boo’ed when the Memorial players skated out and nearly blew the roof off when the Redmen hit the ice. I’m surprised the glass around the ice didn’t crack with all the yelling.
One of the best parts of any hockey game is the 30-second snippets of songs they play during the game after a penalty or a foul — there’s my lack of hockey knowledge showing itself again.
Before I knew it, the game was over, we had won and people were already starting their countdowns to Red Cup (Feb. 7-10, people). Fingers crossed that the Redmen have a great season.
On the opposite spectrum of hockey, rehearsals for “Grease” are in full swing. Dances are being choreographed, sets are being painted and props are being collected.
I asked one of the lovely codirectors and actors, Mackenzie Sechi, a Grade 12 student (who is also playing Rizzo), about her thoughts on directing the musical:
“I’ve never really directed anything before but was super excited to take on the challenge,” said Sech. “When I found out Danna Martin would be interested in helping, I happily asked her to join me. She’s had years of experience with Kostume Kapers and I thought it would be fantastic to work on this project with her.
“I’ve been learning a lot and it’s been so fun to discuss every little moment of the show with her so we can direct ‘Grease’ as a team. I can’t wait to show it off to everyone.”
The cast and crew members of the musical are getting ready for the four days of shows, which starts on Nov. 19 and goes until Nov. 22. More details and information on show times will be released closer to those dates. Hopefully this kickstarts a yearly musical from the students of Riverview High School. See you all next month.