The World Under 17 Hockey Challenge has come and gone in the City of Swift Current, but that didn't stop one Swift Current from getting recognized at city council. 

Staff Sergeant Gary Hodges volunteered his time earlier this year with the challenge and was the team host with Team Canada Red. 

"Very positive as volunteer experience," he said. "I got to see the inner workings of a high-performance hockey club during the tournament." 

Hodges said that as the team host, he had many roles. 

"Part of the role of the host was to kind of liaison between the team and the community. If the team had something they want to do with the community, I basically assisted them with the knowledge of the community to do that, providing any services that they needed that were available within the community." 

Hodges added that he also got to do some analytics for the team, as he tracked ice time for the players. 

He said that his most significant take away he saw from the kids was how motivated and driven they were. 

"I would say the biggest thing was the passion that they have for the game at that age. You kind of forget as you get older and you play at a recreational level if you're not exposed to that," he stated. "Each and every one of the kids is driven and working acceptably hard, not only on the ice but watching them in their school sessions with tutors working through all the core subjects of school that they still have to maintain while performing at that level of skill and hockey." 

Hodges said that, overall, his experience for a fun one. 

"It was a lot of fun learning where they were coming from, learning their intention and their plans were for their hockey careers," Hodges said. "They were very driven and high-performance athletes. It was a learning experience. I've been involved in hockey for quite some time, both coaching with my own kids and playing growing up, but this was a whole other level that was very educational for me." 

He added that it was refreshing to see the kids having fun and enjoying the game of hockey.