Memorial ball hockey tournament comes to an end in Labrador, but Roy Sainsbury's memory lives on
Family of drowned student says it's time to lay annual Cartwright tournament to rest
Ball hockey players and fans will gather in Cartwright, N.L., this weekend for the final Roy Sainsbury Memorial Ball Hockey Tournament, saying goodbye to a 15-year tradition in honour of a late student from the community.
The tournament, which started in 2010, began as a way to remember Roy Sainsbury, one of three young men who lost their lives on the Churchill River that year. In 2017, the gym in Cartwright was renamed the Roy Sainsbury Memorial Gym.
The Cartwright recreation committee and the Sainsbury family have decided this year's tournament would be the last, as fewer teams were registering and the number of people playing ball hockey on the South Coast of Labrador has been decreasing since the tournament started.
"It's just hard to get the teams and get the numbers to make a tournament like this a success. So we know that we're coming up on 15 years since Roy left everybody, and we wanted to make sure that we did it justice," said recreation committee member Lindsey Lethbridge.
"It kinda gets to the point where you watch all of the people that Roy knew ... kind of phasing out. And a lot of the younger ones don't even know like who they're playing in honour of, which is completely fine. That's just the reality of time," said Roy's youngest sister, Claire Sainsbury.
Claire says she isn't afraid to lose the tournament, that her brother's presence will always be felt in the gym named in his memory.
"There's going to be a sign on the gym with his face on it, his name is written on the floor … his presence is always going to be there," said Claire.
Lethbridge agreed, saying that Roy would never be forgotten in that gym or in the town of Cartwright.
Claire says that she believes she is not the only one who feels that way.
"There will be people that know Roy playing this weekend and I know that they'll feel it in their heart that Roy's with everybody, because he's a very strong presence," said Claire.
During this final tournament, the recreation committee and Sainsbury family have also decided to retire number 33, the number that Roy would wear when he played ball hockey.
It's a number that holds a lot of meaning for Claire, and it's one that she sees multiple times a day.
"I know it's always my brother just there telling me, like you're doing great, you got this, you know, because it's hard to lose somebody so important to you," said Claire.
'He was everything to me'
Though she was just 10 years old when he died, Claire credits her older brother with being the reason she plays any sports, especially hockey.
Claire describes Roy as her 'favourite ball hockey player ever' and remembers, even as a young child, going to tournaments to watch him play.
Outside of athletics, Claire remembers him as someone who lit up the room, who brought people together and made them laugh.
"He was my role model, he was everything to me…. Nobody in my family besides me plays sports anymore, so I very much miss him for that. So he really is the reason that I ever set foot on any court, on any floor, ever."
Though there may not be as many ball hockey tournaments on the south coast of Labrador as there once were, last December a new tournament began in the Labrador Straits — the Tia Normore Memorial Ball Hockey.
For Claire, she believes the organizers of that tournament will do a good job of keeping ball hockey "alive and doing it in someone's memory and somebody's honour. So, I'm happy enough to have like the final one in Roy's honour, and then, you know, kind of pass on the torch."
This final tournament will see 10 teams from around southern Labrador competing in men's, women's and junior divisions.
Claire will be playing, too, and says though ball hockey culture has changed, the tournaments will bring out generations of players — and for people in southern Labrador, those tournaments will always be something sacred.
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