For those born and raised in Canada, and many other countries for that matter, bus trips are a highlight of being young.
They are closely identified with sports teams. Bus trips are far more than just transportation for road games; they represent a time for team bonding and even occasional pranks and other antics.
But bus trips are also needed for band trips, field trips and other excursions for Canadian youth. We all have some wonderful stories from those journeys, regardless of whether they happened while riding in a yellow school bus, or on a more comfortable charter.
There’s also a belief that they’re safe. You feel comfortable on the bus, knowing that if something happens, you’ll likely emerge all right.
One of those rare situations in which everyone wasn’t OK happened last Friday on a highway in east-central Saskatchewan. A semi-trailer unit collided with the Humboldt Broncos team bus, as the Broncos were en route to a must-win playoff game in Nipawin. Fifteen people on the bus were killed; the other 14 were taken to hospital with injuries that ranged from relatively minor to potentially life-changing.
(Of course, the mental and emotional trauma for the survivors will linger for years, regardless of whether the physical pain remains).
It’s one of those situations that can happen anywhere, at any time, and to any team, group or organization. And given the amount of kilometres logged by buses each year, perhaps it’s surprising that it doesn’t happen more often.
It’s one of the most tragic incidents in the history of Canadian sport.
The outpouring of support for the Broncos was swift and substantial. There was the verbal encouragement – the posts on social media and the press releases associated with a tragedy like this. People shared fond memories of the deceased, and offered best wishes to the injured.
The friends, family members and others associated with the victims of this collision appreciate it.
But there has been incredible financial support, with millions of dollars raised through a GoFundMe page and many other fundraisers. People who had never heard of Humboldt before have stepped forward to support the team.
And there has been the local support that you would expect from Saskatchewan, with people opening their doors and finding their own ways to help the victims.
Humboldt’s like a lot of small cities and towns in Saskatchewan. The local hockey team plays a vital role in the day-to-day life of what is a tight-knit community where everybody seemingly knows everybody. The hockey players are active in the community. People pay close attention to the club.
At a time like this, hockey finds itself at the bottom of the priority list. The health of the survivors and the grieving process for the deceased is the priority. The date of the Broncos next game, and the next game in the SJHL, is not important.
Nobody would fault the Broncos if they decide not to play again this season, and nobody would fault the SJHL if they pulled the plug on the season and didn’t have a final.
But there’s also something to be said for the healing that can come through sport, and perhaps the best way to move on from this tragedy is for the league to finish the season.
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