When the Canada Senior Games take place in Kamloops, B.C., Aug. 23 to 26, a group of athletes from Dauphin will be part of the Manitoba contingent competing in the ice hockey 65+ event.

Jim Steiner, Brad Carefoot, Randy Daley, Larry Budzinski and Uwe Janson will open the tournament, Aug. 23 when Manitoba faces Vintage Edmonton.

Tom Carberry is coach of Manitoba’s 65+ team, which has been praticing in Dauphin in preparation of the games. He joked about the team taking pity on him because he couldn’t skate anymore.

“So they got me coaching just to give me something to do,” he added. “This same group went to the last Canada Senior Games in New Brunswick pre-pandemic. So this is the first time since.”

Most of the provinces have playdowns to determine a representative. But Manitoba only has the one team in the 65+ category.

There will be two teams from Alberta and Ontario, and one each from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and B.C.

Teams will play a round-robin, Aug. 23 to 25, with the medal round on Aug. 26.

The rest of the team is from the Westman area, primarily Brandon, with some hailing from the Virden-Souris area and one from Shilo.

“They’re guys that are basically the core of the team from the last games that were held. Brian Evenson is the manager. He’s from Minnedosa, and he;’s sort of the glue that holds us all together,” Carberry said.

The team’s expectations are simple - come back alive, Carberry said.

At the last Canada Senior Games in New Brunswick, Manitoba lost all their games and only scored one or two goals.

“So we’re hoping for maybe three goals this time and everybody healthy,” Carberry said.

The main goal is to have fun. While some players are competitive, the goal of the tournament is to have fun.

“Some of the teams have guys that have played a pretty high level of hockey. So have some of ours, but we’re showing our age now,” Carberry stated, adding there is a 75+ age group competing in Kamloops, as well. “Have some fun, get some exercise, build some comradery and, of course, the most important things is not hurt our pride too much,” he said