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Islanders hosting Thomas Haydon Day on Saturday

Events include alumni game, barbecue, beer garden and the presentation of memorial award
award
The Thomas Haydon Memorial Award will be handed on Saturday as part of a special evening in tribute to the former player and coach.

The lacrosse community will pay tribute to a former player and coach at the inaugural Thomas Haydon Day on Saturday at the Ladner Leisure Centre.

The Ladner native and Delta firefighter lost his battle with pancreatic cancer last October at the age of 36. Now an evening of events in his honour have been centred around a B.C. Junior “A” Lacrosse League regular season game between the Delta Islanders and Burnaby Lakers at 7 p.m.

An hour long alumni game will get underway at 4:30 p.m. It will feature a number players who came through the organization as well as Haydon’s family, lifelong friends and teammates.

Players committed to the game include: Jason Northey, Jim Nishiyama, Harry Bining, Gary Bining, Trent Smalley, Greg Guichon, Adam Haydon, Andrew McBride, Russell Marynowski, Adam Smith, Cody Blake, Matt Zinn, Scott Boyle, Dave Yee and Jamie Bates.

An outdoor barbecue will run from 6 to 8 p.m. and a beer garden inside the LLC from 6 to 10 p.m. 

All proceeds from these two events will be going to pancreatic cancer research on behalf of the Delta Islanders and Haydon Family and Friends.

The inaugural Thomas Haydon Memorial Award will be handed out in the second intermission of the junior “A” game. It comes with a $2,500 scholarship. The winner will receive a custom Haydon axe, reflecting his career as a firefighter. A larger version of the award is expected to be on permanent display inside the LLC. 

Haydon played and coached lacrosse in Ladner for more than 20 years. He was also the first captain of the inaugural Delta Junior “A” Islanders in 2002. 

His playing career included helping the Ladner Pioneers win the President’s Cup national senior “B” championship in 2004.

Haydon was a husband, father of three, an avid outdoorsman, farmer, member of the Delta Fire Department and skilled in the trades. During his time, he was hardworking, loyal, courageous and respectful, both on and off the lacrosse floor.