Come to The Braestone Winter Classic and make A new friend
A few years ago, while on a walk around the pond with my friend and owner of Braestone Farm, Jamie Massie, the idea for The Braestone Winter Classic 3-on-3 Charity Pond Hockey Tournament was born. My brother, Jeff, had recently passed from an aggressive form of cancer affecting his esophagus, stomach, and liver. Jamie and I talked of an event that could bring the community together and of a meaningful cause that we could support.
Jeff is the inspiration behind the tournament that in its first two years has raised more than $175k for The Simcoe Muskoka Regional Cancer Centre at RVH.
While waiting for his diagnosis – which was ten days of hospitalized dread (sprinkled with teasers of hope) – Jeff coaxed an elderly roommate to take her medication – he charmed a panoply of orderlies, and he disarmed a bewildered Doogie Howser oncologist with his bawdy (read: WAY-over-the-line) sense of humour. He insisted Sheri bring an extra caramel latte for the nurse just befriended and before his discharge, there was a lineup of health care workers offering kind words. Doogie returned, leaned in for a hug, and told Jeff how inspiring he was.
Jeff and Sheri
That’s Jeff. He made new friends everywhere he went.
Jeff and I loved to play hockey together. We played on outdoor rinks as kids and in old-timer tournaments as adults. At The Braestone Winter Classic, he would have been in his element and the life of the party. Jeff was a very good hockey player (much better than me) – but it’s his sense of humour and camaraderie that would shine. Jeff made people feel good. Be it through laughter (hilarious, salty jokes), the effortless way he made sure everyone felt welcome, or his child-like joy at life’s simple pleasures – you knew it was sure to be a good time if Jeff was there.
After Jeff’s service, we gathered at the family home for what Jeff requested: a big party in his sprawling back yard. Like most Markle family gatherings it was boozy and jam-packed with a full spectrum of emotional outbursts.
In the wee hours, I toasted whisky tumblers with two of Jeff’s best friends: Chris Hergott and Shane Henkel. I knew them through Jeff but was taken aback when they suggested that we, too, were to become great friends. I immediately felt the need to manage expectations: “I’m not nearly as good a friend as my brother.”
Sadly, I believe that statement holds true to this day. But, inspired by Jeff’s example, I want to do better.
When I think about it, Jeff mastered three essential elements of friendship. a) He built trust by telling the truth and being the one you could always count on; b) He was famous for his hospitality – his unlocked front door – great food and drink – and warm, authentic welcome; and c) He cultivated an atmosphere where friendship reigned – old ones and new ones – by the way he paid attention. No pretentions. No hierarchy. Everyone mattered.
Shane and Chris have joined a few other friends, family members, and me each year in the tournament. Our on-ice performance has been less than stellar, but we don’t mind. We’re there to celebrate Jeff’s life, to support a worthy cause, to have fun, and to make new memories.
Ruby and Shane
The Braestone Winter Classic Organizing Committee is busy planning the 3rd edition of the tournament (February 2-4, 2024).
Pond hockey stands apart from other sports in its appeal to primal instincts. For me, the intensity begins with simply tying my skates. It’s rare this rite is completed without sweated brow.
The game has special moments when time and space are experienced in an elastic manner. There’s an intense satisfaction of the imagination when artists are magically on the same wavelength and give-and-go plays come to fruition. The glimpse of sequential actions happening almost all at once in the natural setting of a frozen pond surrounded by forests is a thing of beauty.
Sweaty players trot back to the barn or the sugar shack where bravado and reinterpretation of recent events are parts of the ritual. The sharing of either a few farm-fresh beers or local spirits with a hot dog or slider represents the best of the experience and it is in this aspect of the tradition that my performance can finally be described as dominant.
I’m eager to play in The Braestone Winter Classic once again. I hope to see some familiar faces and to meet some new ones. I hope to have another great time on the ice and off the ice. But most of all, I hope to honour my brother’s legacy and be a good friend.
The Jeff Markle Memorial Award is the only individual prize awarded at The Braestone Winter Classic. The award is given to the person who most exemplifies camaraderie, humour, and passion for the game.
We want everyone at The Braestone Winter Classic to be inspired by Jeff’s example. After all, it’s a neighbourly pond hockey tournament to raise funds for OUR regional cancer centre. You could say, it’s the best of small-town Canada.
