Local girls hockey tournament hopes to help coach find new kidney
Posted Jan 7, 2025 08:50:35 AM.
Last Updated Jan 7, 2025 11:05:26 AM.
The 16th annual Kyla Kowalik Memorial Hockey Tournament takes place this weekend (Jan. 10-12) at the Wilmot Recreation Complex.
Typically, this tournament is also used to help raise awareness about organ and tissue donation but this year, it has added significance.
In 2024, it was learned a long-time girls hockey coach, Matt Bell, was in need of a kidney transplant. Organizers saw this year’s tournament as an opportunity to help him find a compatible donor.
Throughout the weekend, booths will be set up at the rink, informing visitors how to get screened to become a living donor or how to sign up to be a tissue or organ donor.
Jeremy Cook, vice president of Wilmot Wolverines, the host club, told 570 NewsRadio that if anyone deserves a little help, it’s Bell.
“Currently he can’t participate in the on-ice practices anymore because of his health situation. But, he’s been very active for the better part of a decade, coaching with his daughters. He’s an active person who loves the outdoors but his current health situation is causing him to enjoy it less and less.”
Cooks adds, “getting the word out to get him the kidney that he needs to let him get back to a normal life is the important part.”
A Facebook group has been created to help in the efforts.
A legacy of giving
Kowalik was just 17 when she died of complications following knee surgery. She had played boys hockey prior to the creation of the Wilmot Girls Hockey Association but later joined a girls team in Plattsville.
She was a organ donor and when the tournament was created, it was decided it would be used to help raise awareness about the importance of being an organ donor, while also honouring Kowalik’s memory.
