Lacombe will have solid representation at this year’s Alberta Winter Games.
Luke Miller, 12, is one of three young men from Lacombe chosen to play on the Zone 4 Pee Wee Hockey team for the Alberta Winter Games to be held in Banff and Canmore this year.
Miller has been playing hockey for about seven years. He said he finds the sport a lot of fun and enjoys hockey for the opportunity it gives him to learn and progress with new skills.
When Miller heard about the Games from his parents, he decided to try out thinking it would be a fantastic experience and an opportunity to try his hand at a more competitive level of hockey.
At the tryouts, Miller said he was a bit nervous but more so he was having fun and focusing on meeting new players, coaches and learning new drills.
He said the only thing that took him out of his comfort zone was sharing the ice with so many newcomers rather than his familiar teammates.
Megan, Luke’s mother, said she too was more excited than nervous as she watched her son try out. She added that she also was impressed at the skills displayed on the ice. “I was kind of in awe at the number of talented players.”
After the tryouts, Luke waited to learn if he would make the team.
Unlike some of his teammates, he said he wasn’t overly anxious or nervous about getting the call. However, he did say that when his friend Jackson Rider learned he had made the team, Luke started to wonder whether or not he had made the cut as well.
When he learned that he had indeed made the team, he was happy and excited.
“I was glad I would get the opportunity to play at a sort of, ‘mini-Olympics’.”
At this point, Luke said he is very excited to play in the Alberta Winter Games. In particular, he said he is looking forward to meeting new people and making new friends.
Luke will certainly have a lot of time to meet and get to know new people, as he will spending a lot of time both on ice and off with his new teammates, most of whom he doesn’t know.
However, he is glad to be playing with two of his friends, Rider and Adam Heindel, as well.
While Luke, Rider and Heindel have played together, they have not played on a team with all of the other players in Zone 4. As such, he said the time they spend together, both on ice and off, will help them become more cohesive.
He added that it will take the team some time to get used to each other’s different styles, but by the first game he thinks his teammates will have their feet under them.
Megan and the rest of Luke’s family are also grateful for him to have this experience.