On Saturday, November 18th, the North Plainfield Junior Canucks Junior Varsity and Varsity teams celebrated their annual banquet and awards ceremony at the Vermuele center. As in years past the event was filled with lots of good food, music, fun and fanfare. And of course the most highly anticipated moment- the awards ceremony where each player gets called up by their coach to receive a trophy. A small memento and token of appreciation for their work all season.
However, this year’s celebration was far from ordinary or “business as usual”. Late in the summer, the team which in the past operated privately was moved under North Plainfield’s recreation division. In addition, for various reasons many players had either moved to other teams outside of town or just didn’t sign up to play this year. While the flag and varsity teams had more than a sufficient number of players, the junior varsity team had just enough to play with very few extra and thus were faced with the challenge of practicing with limited number of players.
However, the light at the end of the tunnel is how these young boys rose to the occasion before them. Each week at practice they showed up and worked, and with each game both the junior varsity and varsity players came out and gave it their all. Most of them playing both offense and defense throughout the game. And while they didn’t win any game, they gave it their best each week. Which is what life is all about
And the real prize at the end of this season is the lesson they learned- Never Give Up. And so on November 18th, the North Plainfield Junior Canucks Junior Varsity and Varsity players were all smiles at their banquet. And why not? They emerged the final winners because they exemplified the true meaning of team work and commitment.
A special thanks to Dennis Passe at the North Plainfield Department of Recreation for all his support and leadership this season. Also thank you to all the coaches especially the Varsity head coach Terrence Roselle and JV head coach Efrem McCrimon, and their assistant coaches for their dedication to the team. A big thank you to all the parents and families for the support of the kids, Last but not least thanks to Texas Roadhouse for their donation towards the banquet.
We look forward to an awesome 2018 season! Go Junior Canucks.
