Marauders do it for Maddie
The A.N. Myer Marauders had much more than volleyball on their minds when they took on the Centennial Cougars for the Niagara Regional Athletic Association Zone 3 senior girls AA championship Tuesday.
Just minutes after defeating the Cougars 25-21, 25-14, 22-25, 25-5 to advance to the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools (SOSSA) playdowns, the team assembled for a championship photo.
Front and centre in the picture was Myer captain Piper Hollingsworth, holding a picture of their former teammate, Madelyn Ker, who died Jan. 27 due to a car accident.
“Every single point basically was for her,” Hollingsworth said. “She’s on everyone’s mind. It’s very sad, but we’re doing this for her.”
Hollingsworth, a 17-year-old, Grade 12 student, said the team held a meeting after the accident where it was decided they would continue the season in Ker’s honour.
“Everyone said Maddie would never want to end the season over something like this, she would want us to continue playing,” Hollingsworth said.
Hollingsworth remembers her friend fondly.
“It was her smile and she was never negative, she never had anything bad to say. She was always smiling, she was the best, one of the best people I’ve ever met in my life.”
Hollingsworth said it was difficult to process the situation after she got word of the accident.
“For all of us it basically just feels like, oh, she’s just sick today, she couldn’t be here,” Hollingsworth said. “It hasn’t really sunk in for any of us really that she’s fully gone.
“When I got the news, I basically was just in denial. I’m like, it’s a lie.”
Myer coach Taylor Clarke said the team is doing whatever it can to make certain Ker is not forgotten.
“We had a tournament on Friday. We ran a buyout where we raised money for a scholarship that we’re hoping to have in her name,” Clarke said. “We did donations. We have T-shirts that are going to be sold within our school community really soon.
“We got these pictures, so now the girls are bringing these pictures around and her favourite colour was blue, so all the other teams (at the tournament) showed up with blue ribbons or blue numbers on. Her number was 12 and they showed up with that on her leg.”
Clarke is proud how the team is handling the tragedy.
“It’s not something that I ever expected to face,” she said. “I haven’t been teaching for all that long but it’s crazy that it happened. You never think it’s going to be one of yours. I think it really just set in stone how important all of our students and our athletes really are to us and how important they are to each other.
“These girls have been so incredibly strong. It’s been very inspiring to see them work together and figure out what the next steps are.”
The Marauders advance to SOSSA Thursday at West Niagara.
Members of the team are: Lia Ciampanelli, Halvah Dobbin, Sophie Hodgkinson, Piper Hollingsworth, Gabrielle Holness, Chantal Huynh, Sophia Kotsanis, Veronica Kukurudza, Makenna Phillips, Brianna Richards and Emma Vendittelli.
Dear reader. If you liked this story or one of the 6,600 other stories found on our website, please consider hitting the Support Us button on the right-hand side of our home page and making a PayPal contribution to our website. Your support would be much appreciated. If you are a business owner, please consider advertising on our site. Our rates are reasonable and we provide plenty of exposure for your business. Contact bpotrecz@outlook.com for more information.
