London Police face off against Fanshawe in charity hockey game

Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: JOHN SING
Who will have their name engraved on the trophy as the first Fanshawe College Community Cup champions?

On November 13, members of the London Police Service will lace up their skates for a fun match-up against Fanshawe's extramural hockey team to raise money for the United Way.

"I think we're gonna take 'em" said Fanshawe College President Dr. Howard Rundle, who will be the honorary head coach for Fanshawe. Rundle will go head to head with Police Chief Brad Duncan to compete for the first Fanshawe College Community Cup.

Despite his confidence, Rundle admitted he doesn't know much about coaching. "I'm supposed to be some kind of a coach. I don't know anything about coaching hockey, but we're going to have an expert on our side — a secret weapon, a really experienced coach." He added that he is definitely prepared to act like a coach. "I'm gonna get out there and pretend I'm coaching ... I'll be able to shake my fist at the referees and yell at the other coach and throw chairs onto the rink — whatever a coach is supposed to do."

Head coach Eric Collins is heading into his fourth season with the team and said he is excited to have Rundle on his side. "It's going to be very exciting to see what he brings. Clearly he's a leader, the man knows a lot about the game, so it's going to very exciting to welcome him on to our bench."

Collins held tryouts on the October 27 weekend and mentioned that his team will only play in one tournament before the match-up. Collins stated that his new team is looking great, but admitted that competition is stiff. "I've gotta say, I was looking up and down their roster and they have a few guys that have played some pretty high level hockey." But, regardless of the result, Collins is looking forward to hosting the game. "It's an exhibition game, so win or lose, we're there to raise money for the United Way and celebrate the relationship Fanshawe has with the London Police."

Rundle is looking forward to displaying their relations with the LPS in a positive way. "On the one hand, it's symbolic in that it's kind of a demonstration to the community and particularly Fanshawe students that we work closely with London Police Services, who keep our students safe … Having it in the community here, near Fleming Drive when there was all that negative stuff in the past, we thought it was a neat idea to have something positive."

Collins is enthusiastic about the game. "There's that spirit of bringing everyone together and that spirit of hockey that works on so many levels in terms of fun, competitiveness, school pride… and to have the chance to combine all that with raising money for such a great cause is really exciting."

Fanshawe has supported the United Way for several years, but this event will be a first for the college. "We've had about five years of increasing our contribution to the United Way, and if you back up five or more years, we contributed about $25,000 and last year it was $106,000," said Rundle. "But it's gonna be tough to keep increasing that - so new events like this will help."

Rundle said they choose to raise money for the United Way for several reasons. "Probably the most important thing is it really helps our community, it deals with some of the serious problems in the community and if you look at the programs Fanshawe College has, we have a whole lot of programs that train people to work in the community with people that have these challenges … so it's helping the very agencies where our graduates are often employed."

The game will be held on November 13 at 7:30 p.m. at Stronach Arena (1221 Sandford St.). Admission is by donation and all proceeds will support the Fanshawe College United Way campaign.