By Tyler Waugh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Thirty-two high school hockey teams from around the province took to the ice in Mount Pearl and Paradise last week for the Royal Newfoundland Regiment’s Memorial High School Hockey Tournament to vie for the coveted Beaumont-Hamel Cup. And while the on-ice action was absorbing, it was an ongoing initiative to connect competitors with their ancestors and their storied military service that drew overwhelming support.
Regimental Connections asks players and their families to submit pictures and stories of their loved ones in military service. This year, the focus was on submissions connected to The Royal Newfoundland Regiment in WW1, and the 59th Heavy and 166th artillery regiments which served in World War II. More than 50 submissions were received, with some also highlighting connections to the Canadian Armed Forces, the Merchant Marine and the Royal Canadian Navy.
“As a commemorative tournament, this aspect of remembrance and commemoration is very important to us,” said Michele Boriel, public relations officer for the tournament, adding that throughout the tournament serving members of the regiment presented the player of the game awards, and that all awards were named after Regimental battles and members of the Regiment from WWI. “Some years we have had players bring framed photos or medals and other memorabilia with them.”
Several players from Mount Pearl were featured in the Regimental Connections in 2026.
Addison, Merisa and Grant Abbott of the O’Donel Patriots are the great-grandchildren of Private Fredrick Abbott of the 1st Newfoundland Regiment. He enlisted on June 12, 1916, at the age of 15 by falsifying his age on the enlistment document. He was wounded in battle on two separate occasions, sustaining gunshot and shrapnel wounds to his right arm and right leg.
Nathan Swain of the Mount Pearl Huskies had his great grandfather, Ronald Joseph Reddy, serve in the Royal Newfoundland Artillery 166th Field Regiment as a gunner in North Africa and Italy. Fellow Husky Alexander Sweeney has a great-great-great uncle, Pte. Charles Canning, serve with the Regiment during WWI. He was killed in action in April 1918 and is remembered on the Beaumont-Hamel Monument in France.
Regimental Connections was the brainchild of deputy tournament director Ken Gatehouse, himself a 40-year veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces, including The Royal Newfoundland Regiment, and the grandson of decorated WWI hero Sgt. Charlie Parsons.
“We receive a lot of thanks from family members who appreciate that we are remembering and honouring their loved ones and helping to keep those memories alive,” said Boriel. “We shared the Regimental connections with the Royal Canadian Legion in Newfoundland as well as Newfoundland schools to further keep alive the conversation connecting the generations.”
Other connections highlighted over the course of the tournament included Declan Flynn and Avery Strong of the Queen Elizabeth Pioneers whose great-great-grandfather, Corporal Aaron Strong, joined the Regiment during WWI and was injured during battle at Monchy-le-Preux. Declan’s father Tom served with the 1st Battalion in the Royal Newfoundland Regiment. Avery’s dad, Kyle Strong, currently serves as the Commanding Officer of The Royal Newfoundland Regiment.
Solomon Murray and Lauren Picco of the Holy Spirit Falcons also have connections. Murray’s great grandfather served as a gunner with the 166th Newfoundland Field Regiment in the Second World War, operating 25-pounder artillery in North Africa and Italy. Picco’s great-great uncle, Private James Newman, died on the front lines during the Great War and is remembered with honour on the Beaumont-Hamel Memorial in France.