By Michelle Ruby, Brantford Expositor
Sunday, June 3, 2018 5:17:16 EDT PM

BRANTFORD – More than 1,500 players on 135 teams, some from as far away as Barbados, played some Wally-ball on the weekend.

“If you play hockey, you’re going to play this tournament,” said Jordan Wonch of Brantford, a member of the Hack-N-Wackers, a group of friends who have been part of the Walter Gretzky Street Hockey Tournament since its inception. “We’re just here to have fun. Some of the best times are the times in between the games. It’s nice to be around everyone.”

The 12th annual event was held Friday, Saturday and Sunday on 14 rinks at Lions Park.

Over the past dozen years, the tournament, along with the Phyllis Gretzky Memorial Golf Classic, which will be held on Wednesday at the Willow Valley Golf Course in Mount Hope, has raised $379,000 for the Ontario Lung Association.

One in five Canadians have lung disease. Within the Grand Erie District School Board, there are 7,770 children who struggle to breathe due to asthma, said Sandy Lee, the Lung Association’s manager of community engagement for central Ontario.

At the tournament’s opening ceremony on Saturday, Lee announced that SC Johnson is providing a $30,000 grant toward childhood asthma research to be conducted at McMaster University.

Lee said the street hockey tournament began in 2007 as a way to give back to the world’s most famous hockey dad for all he has done for the Brantford community. Gretzky was expected to make an appearance on Sunday to greet players and sign autographs.

Among the players on Saturday were 14 teams made up of fans of American filmmaker, comedian and actor Kevin Smith, who is himself a big fan of Walter and the Gretzky family. Smith, who suffered a heart attack in February, has played in the tournament several times.

“He’s doing really good,” said Cathy Bislich, who travelled from Ohio to play on Smith’s team, the LA Mings.

“We come to have a good time,” said Jim Edelston, also from Ohio. “And it’s a great cause to support. We’ve built friendships through BHI Brantford and Walter is a good guy. We give him a jersey every year.”

Brantford Mayor Chris Friel said he developed exercise-induced asthma as an adult, which makes him think about all the kids who were sidelined with breathing issues when he was growing up.

“The strides we’ve made to get people with breathing ailments back to play is remarkable,” said Friel. “Every single year this tournament grows.”

George Habib, president and CEO of the Ontario Lung Association, told Saturday’s crowd the agency has raised and contributed about $2.1 million this year to lung health research. That money, he said, covers about 20 research projects across the province.

mruby@postmedia.com

Reblog via Brantford Expositor