Cudas set to host ninth annual memorial game in honour of Cindy Garant

By Lethbridge Herald on June 10, 2022.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

Cindy Garant was a dedicated and passionate contributor to the southern Alberta lacrosse community and for that ,the Lethbridge Barracudas Tier 1 Junior B lacrosse team will be hosting the Fort Saskatchewan Rebels in the ninth annual  Cindy Garant Memorial Game in honour of her tonight at Nicholas Sheran Arena.

Garant died of cancer back in 2011 and her legacy lives on through the renaming of the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League’s Junior B Tier II South Division after her and for the first seven years the Lethbridge Pioneers senior C team hosted a memorial game, before the Barracudas took it over and hosted the first game in 2019 and now the second game in 2022.

“So her child, Dakotah, had aged out and was playing senior lacrosse and I guess his co-players that were still here were playing senior lacrosse on the Pioneers team and they really wanted to honour her legacy,” said Jackie Anderson-Lea, Barracudas manager.

“So they started the Cindy Garant Memorial Game where all the proceeds go towards the Canadian Cancer Society and that was the birth of this game. And then the senior lacrosse in southern Alberta folded a few years ago. So, as a community we talked about it and we’re like ‘Well OK, we can’t let her legacy go.’ And so the Junior Tier 1’s were very honoured to have the opportunity to take over iand step in.”

This has been first sanctioned season since COVID hit and one of the first items to take care of was how to continue the Memorial Game.

“I guess what made it more special and motivated us even more to get this rolling again is last year for our exhibition season, Dakotah Garant was the assistant coach; he assistant coached the Tier 1 Barracudas,” she said.

“So that drove it home even more and made it that much more important to us.”

A pre-game barbeque will be from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Nicholas Sheran Arena.

There will be a $5 cost to attendees for a hamburger or hot dog, chips and a drink.

There will be a silent auction during the game and gate admission will be donated back.

All proceeds will go to the Canadian Cancer Society.

“Our goal this year, which I think we’ll surpass very quickly, is $2,022,” she said.

“Yeah, I don’t think we’re going to have any problem whatsoever surpassing that.”

Dakotah will do a ceremony ball drop as well as other members of the Garant family will be on hand.

The Barracudas and Rebels game will get underway at 8 p.m.

The first Barracudas event in 2019 raised over $2,000.

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