By Doug Kennedy

Caden Allingham grew up playing hockey in Kincardine and joined the local referee association at a young age. He also played golf and baseball and and most recently played for the Kincardine Cubs.
After high school, he attended Sheridan College, taking a Bachelor of Applied Health in Athletic Therapy Course. His third year he took a field placement at Ryerson University with the men’s hockey team. In his fourth year, he was back with Ryerson and also helped with the Guelph Major Midget AAA hockey team.
He is now chasing his dream in Yorkton, with the junior team. Yorkton has a strong reputation in junior hockey in the western provinces. It has sent many kids on to play professional hockey and to division one and three schools in the USA. The Terriers have won many league championships which has sent them to the RBC cup.
Allingham is going in to his fourth year as the athlete therapist and equipment manager for the Yorkton Terriers.
Last year, the season ended in the first round of playoffs. They were tied 2-2 with The La Ronge Ice Wolves. The Wolves were half way to Yorkton when Hockey Canada pulled the plug on the season . Allingham thought they had a real chance at getting to the league championship round. It really stung because of the unknown.
Travel out west is always something junior leagues have to deal with. In Allingham’s league, rides are from anywhere between 30 minutes to eight hours. The long trips always result in a couple of games and a sleepover in these towns. He says the atmosphere in most areas are mixed, with some arenas old and historic and some brand new. He thinks the loudest one is in Flin Flon, Manitoba.
This year, with the unknown of playing because of COVID-19, players started to skate and work out on September 21. Allingham lives with a billet family in Yorkton. He has been with the same family for four years, so it is like home to him when he is spending the winters in Yorkton.
Allingham is just like any young Canadian kid who would love to work in major junior or professional sports. He is paying his dues out west, so let’s hope this works out for him. Some classmates at Sheridan College are all ready in the CFL, and down south, one works in the NCAA football league. This helps motivate him to get to a higher level in sports.
I was lucky enough to coach Allingham in high school hockey. He has the right people skills and education to move up the ladder at some point.