Kaszebe challenges local team in three game hockey tournament

WILNO – The Kashubian Griffins Hockey Team, winners of the 2013 Opeongo Heritage Cup, have been invited to play hockey in Kaszebe, the homeland and nation of their ancestors.
On the commissioners last visit to Kaszebe this past summer, Johnny Kashub met with Michal Smiglieski, President of the Industrial Hockey League in Gdansk, the capital city of Kaszebe, where he received this invitation.
Smigielski suggested that they play a three game series between an all- star team from their league to play against the Kashubian Griffins.
The local team is known in Kaszebe as the Kashubian National Hockey Team.
It just happens that the Canadian team is the only Kashubian Hockey Team in the world and that is why they call our team the Kashubian National Hockey Team.
Kashubs outside of Kaszebe have settled in countries like the USA, Germany, Argentina, Australia, Brazil and none of them have a hockey team, but only in Canada. 
Because not too many Kashubs in Kaszebe play hockey, players from other cultures who work in the shipyards in Gdansk, the Capital City of the Nation of Kaszebe, will play on their team. 
The Griffins will play against a multicultural team, composed of Kashubian, German, Polish, Russian players.
These games will promote friendship and build a stronger bridge between Kaszebe overseas and Kaszebe Canada which is very strong today. We will build on this friendship. These games will also be a fundraiser for local charities.
This three-game tournament will take place in April 2014, just after the Opeongo Heritage Cup, which takes place on the last weekend of March.
In Kaszebe, there is offer of support from local businesses. Daniel Czapiewski, owner of Danmar Homes and  Szymbark Kashubian Heritage Park and  Jacek Wronski, owner of Wronski Building Supplies, will donate all ground travel and accommodations in the homeland of Kaszebe.
On this end, Canada’s team will incur some travel expenses. With fundraising and business sponsorship, we can help our boys represent our area overseas.
 
Story continues in the August 28, 2013 issue of The Valley Gazette