Originally published Sept. 16, 2013, Ryan Van Horne chronicles how a fantasy hockey league helped two people connect and make contributions to the Cambodian Diabetes Association.
Tell someone you belong to a fantasy hockey league and, most of the time, you get a little chuckle or an eye roll. For the longest time, it was a game reserved for the 'nerds,' those who couldn't hack it on the ice and instead spent hours watching the game on TV in their parents' basement.
But, like any other niche, the fantasy hockey community is a close-knit bunch. Driven by the same interests, it helps strangers connect in different parts of the world, and the relationships go well beyond the box scores and trade talk.
In Ryan Van Horne's touching article, he chronicles how hockey fans Calvin Wang from Ottawa, Ont. and Rick Wakeman from Flin Flon, Man., who did not know each other previously, ended up competing in the same keeper league and getting involved with the Cambodia Diabetes Association (CDA).
Wakeman, who was volunteering at the CDA clinic treating patients with severe cases of diabetic foot, invited Wang, an orthopedic surgeon who was completing his fellowship in Australia at the time, to visit and offer his expertise.
When Wang visited, he demonstrated how to put casts on patients using foam. It was simple and effective in a region where most of the patients were poor and earned less than $30 per month.
" 'Most of the time you never actually get to meet anyone in person,' Wang says. 'But sometimes you develop relationships and it becomes about something more than hockey.' "
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