Buddy Check for Jesse

For the 5^th year in a row, PMHA is hosting a Buddy Check for Jesse event. Buddy Check for Jesse was created by Stu Gershman to honour the memory of his son Jesse Short-Gershman who passed away in 2014. What began as a weekend in October to raise mental health awareness within our local Minor Hockey community, has grown into a national movement for all sports teams driven by the Buddy Check for Jesse Society charity.

As in past years, the PMHA Buddy Check for Jesse event will focus on “team level” mental health awareness. We want PMHA to be an association where players look out for one another, where they are open to receiving and asking for help, thereby creating a safe space of acceptance and support.

In keeping with that support, PMHA would like to recognize the terrible loss our local hockey community recently suffered with the tragic death of Peninsula Panthers player Grant Gilbertson. Grant was involved in a car accident on his way to hockey practice on Monday, January 3^rd, 2022. The Peninsula Eagles would like to commemorate Grant by providing each team with #26 Helmet stickers. We encourage teams to speak about Grant’s loss and the meaning of the stickers in an age appropriate way. 

This year, our BCFJ event will run from January 24^th – 30^th. Team Managers will be receiving BCFJ kits and the #26 helmet stickers over the next week. Please reach out to Our volunteer coordinator, Tracy with questions.

We look forward to pictures, videos and updates from all our teams sharing how they celebrated each other and the Buddy Check for Jesse message.

To learn more about the Buddy Check for Jesse Society, and how you can support their programming, please visit their website at www.buddycheckforjesse.com