Police, high-schoolers played for the first time since start of pandemic last year
With new and easier measures for Covid prevention announced recently by the Quebec government, officers with the Laval Police Service finally got a chance last week to resume their friendly sporting activities with some Chomedey high-school students for the first time since the start of the pandemic early last year.
Friendly matches
SPL officers met at École secondaire Saint-Maxime on Lévesque Blvd. West to play volleyball, basketball and soccer in friendly but determined matches with the high-school students.
Dressed in shorts, sneakers and a sports top, SPL director Pierre Brochet joined them during the early afternoon for a fun game of basketball on a court on the grounds behind the school.
Curious onlookers
The lively and competitive activity was followed from the sidelines by spectators, including Saint-Maxime students and staff during class breaks, while sparking some curiosity among a few students about police work as a profession.
The weather was perfect for basketball on Wednesday last week when the sun was high in the sky and the air was crisp
According to LPD spokesperson Cst. Chantal Moreau, officers with the force had been getting together for similar sports-oriented events with students from Laval in the past, but had to stop in the spring of 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic started.
“We’re in a position now to start over,” she said, noting that the students who were taking part were between the ages of 12 and 17.
Maybe other schools
Last week’s gathering which centered on basketball was just one of three sports events the police and the students were taking part in over a period of three days. They were also playing matches of volleyball and soccer.
As it turned out, the weather was perfect for basketball on Wednesday last week when the sun was high in the sky and the air was crisp. Cst. Moreau said the SPL officers had arranged only to play students from École secondaire Saint-Maxime, but added that “the door remains open” to other schools possibly also taking part in in the future.
United by three sports
Rhizlaine Chebani, a community liaison official at École secondaire Saint-Maxime, said the school administrators decided, after being consulted by the SPL, that since the school’s three most popular sports are basketball, volleyball and soccer, they could be the basis for some friendly play between the students and the police.
Cst. Moreau agreed that the three sports formed the perfect medium to bring together exuberant youths and the much older and staid adults. “They get to see us as police officers, but also more informally so they can also see that we are real people like them,” she said.
