A Family Affair:

Earlier this BCHL season when the City of Vernon & the Vipers announced they would be making a bid for the 2014 Royal Bank Cup Viper fans were asked to support the RBC Cup bid, most fans signed up to receive a RBC Cup newsletter. I received my newsletter last week and wanted to share a few articles that were posted inside the RBC Cup newsletter. Here is final one of three that I have now posted,

April, 27th 2012
A Family Affair

By Don Klepp

When Brett Corkey joined the Vipers in the fall of 2010, no one in his family could have predicted the extent to which his family would become part of the ongoing life of the Viper organization.

“I came to play hockey, period,” says Brett. “I didn’t expect that Vernon would become a second home.  And that first season was kind of magical, the way we made the run in the playoffs especially.”

He laughs about his mother Sue’s involvement. “It seemed that every time I looked up in the stands, there she’d be. She almost spent more time here than at home in Calgary.” In fact, Sue Corkey made it to about 65 Viper regular season and playoff games in the 2010-11season. And she has made some very good friends in Vernon. “It’s a welcoming place; we feel very much at home here, and I love the way Brett has become a part of this community.”

Brett’s father Ray says that the sense of family “started early with [head scout] Larry Black’s interest in Brett. Larry faithfully called once a week to keep in touch. Then the coaches were very up front, very honest and respectful. The Vipers make only promises that they can keep; they don’t promise you the world just to get you here. Players have to earn their way onto the team. I respect that.”

Ray had expected that Brett would play closer to home: “He could have played in Camrose or another AJHL city when he was 17. It would have made our travel a lot easier,” he admits with a wry smile. “But Brett did his research. He chose to wait a year so that he could play for the Vipers. He made a fine decision, I must say. He learned a lot last year and progressed as a player.”

The extent of that progress became evident when Brett was one of the top defencemen at the 2011 RBC Cup in Camrose. He led all players in the round robin portion of the tournament with a goal and six assists and played solid defence.

He and his parents were back in Vernon this April 20-22, for the Vipers’ spring prospect camp. Unable to play because he had wrist surgery on April 19, Brett was a bench coach for several of the games. He and his dad were asked to comment on how players performed during the camp, further proof of how the Corkeys have been welcomed into the Viper family.

Ray refers to himself as a “bird watcher.” In a sense, he’s a Viper recruiter: “When parents of good players whom we know in Calgary ask about Vernon, I tell them that there’s no better place to play. A bonus is that the BCHL generates a lot more scholarships than other leagues, partly because here the emphasis seems to be on fast, skilled hockey.”