4 Fort McMurray kids representing Canada in the Volt World Cup
Four children from Fort McMurray are heading to Sweden next month to be the first representatives of Alberta’s Volt team at the World Cup.
Volt is an adapted version of hockey that can be played on any field, dry and smooth surface. Players ride in low go-kart-style electric vehicles that they control with a joystick. The vehicles have a hockey blade on the end that players use to hit a small, hard ball into a low, wide net.
Joshua Fitzpatrick, 12, said when he found out he would be playing in that national team, his “heart dropped”.
Fitzpatrick hopes to bring back a trophy from the tournament.
Barbara Fitzpatrick, Joshua’s mother, said she couldn’t believe it when she found out her son would be taking part in a World Cup and traveling to Europe.
“He thinks he’s so… famous,” Barbara said. “He loves everything. Loves all the attention.”
Joshua started playing Volt in the last year.
“I knew as soon as he sat in the chair that he was hooked, because he loves to drive anything that moves. But I never dreamed it was something this big,” said Barbara.
“The idea of going to Sweden… we never thought it would happen at all,” she said. “It’s pretty amazing.”
The families pay for the flights to Sweden, but the food and accommodation are covered.
Variety Alberta, a children’s charity, brought the sport to Alberta almost a year ago and to Fort McMurray in January.
Jacey Gamroth, coach of Alberta’s national Volt team, said that since the teammates are across Alberta, it has been difficult to coordinate practices.
Four of the players are in Fort McMurray, two are in Edmonton and one is in Calgary.
The team could only meet to practice once.
“At the beginning of the weekend I had some concerns. We didn’t mesh as a team very well and then at the end of the weekend it was great. We played so well together and the kids really got along,” Gamroth said.
Despite having a lower population than Edmonton and Calgary, most of the players are from Fort McMurray.
“Our Fort McMurray parents are incredibly engaged and so eager and so excited,” Gamroth said.
She added that there are limited adaptive sports in Fort McMurray so when opportunities arise, people are ready and waiting.
It’s Canada’s first time participating in a World Cup for the Volt, Gamroth said. Teams from Canada, USA, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Germany will participate.
Canada is sending two teams to the WC, one from Alberta and one from Ontario.
Xiaoyan Chen, mother of 10-year-old Stephen Liu, said this has been a great opportunity for him to join a sports team and she is proud of her son.
“[I] really appreciate the opportunity,” Chen said. She added that the technology allows Stephen to play a sport he wouldn’t normally have access to.
“I was very happy,” Liu said. “I love it. It’s a lot of fun.”
This will be Lius first time traveling to Europe, and his family plans to take him to Paris around the time of the tournament.
Olivia Norman, 11, has been playing Volt since January, and said it was cool to find out she was going to Sweden. She hopes to win, have fun and maybe make some new friends abroad.
The Volt World Cup will be held on September 16-18 in Gävle, Sweden.