A huge crowd of excited atom hockey players gathered together on Oct. 16 at McDonald's, the program's title sponsor, for the official handing out of team jerseys.
Each season, Doug and Marilyn Dooley — owners of the McDonald’s on 9th Ave. NE — purchase jerseys, toques, and socks for all 10 of the city's atom teams. They also supply the coaches with coach boards and help the division host team get-togethers throughout the season.
“We're very thankful to have Doug and Marilyn Dooley step up and sponsor our division every year,” said Chris Flanagan, director of the Atom division. “In my three years with Minor Hockey, I've built a great relationship with them. We never have to ask, they just always give it to us.”
Because of the generous sponsorship of the Dooley’s and McDonald’s, the players all get to keep their jerseys at the end of the season — a great memento of their year in Minor Hockey.
“This wouldn't be possible without them, and I'm very thankful to have them a part of this,” said Flanagan. “They've been doing this for a long time.”
Moose Jaw Minor Hockey has approximately 130 kids playing in the atom division this year, spread across eight boys teams and two girls teams. Flanagan speculates this is the most girls they’ve had playing in the atom age division yet, with 24 players on the roster.
For the second year in a row, all those teams gathered at McDonald’s for a jersey presentation night to kick off the season — an idea that Flanagan and Doug debuted last year to great success.
Players were excited to don their fresh jerseys, posing for a team photo with their coaches before enjoying a cheeseburger and drink from the counter.
“It's a jam-packed house, and we love seeing everybody here, having a blast,” said Flanagan. “For them to be able to step up and have Chris Legare, who manages this branch, make three hundred cheeseburgers for these kids, it's really awesome.”
