Fundraising tournament supports local athlete after cancer diagnosis

Meadow Lake residents are rallying behind a local young man dealing with cancer by hosting a volleyball tournament in his honour.

Diehl Normand, 21, is a recent power engineer grad and avid athlete who loves volleyball, hockey and golf. In early 2018, he was diagnosed with stage three testicular cancer which spread to his lungs and lymph nodes.

According to his family, Normand was set to start his new career this year, but instead had to return home to Meadow Lake and travel to Saskatoon for chemotherapy. In addition to a successful GoFundMe campaign, other community members wanted to organize a sporting event in his name, which is how the April 21 charity volleyball tournament came to be.

Barb Villeneuve, a family friend who is organizing the event along with volunteers from Carpenter High School, said the idea came from Normand’s own volunteerism as a volleyball coach and active community member.

“He coached the boys’ team,” she said. “It was an idea to give back to him. Diehl and my son played hockey together and we lived on the same street.”

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She said the response from the community has been strong, as 15 teams have already signed up. Several businesses donated prizes for the event as well, she said.

“It’s been phenomenal,” Villeneuve said. “We have a senior team coming. Diehl’s aunts and grandmas want to play just for a little fun.”

As a part of their health class, Lyndsey Stevenot and Kayleen Oftedal have been helping with the event. Both said it’s meant a lot to them.

“That’s what’s nice about a small community,” Oftedal said. “When something goes wrong with one family, it seems like everybody pulls together to help support them.”

“I know [Diehl] was a part of the volleyball team here,” Stevenot added. “He did help coach, and made an impact on some of the students’ lives, and that’s awesome to see that and help give back to him too.”

Normand’s mother Rhonda Jaman said the family is extremely grateful to those arranging the event for her son.

“We are overwhelmed and very appreciative to all our friends and members of the community that have donated any items or volunteered their time that day to help out,” she said. “Also, we want to thank all the people that are playing volleyball. It is really incredible to have such kindness and positive support from our community.”

While Normand was unavailable to speak directly with meadowlakeNOW, he and his family plan to attend Saturday’s festivities.

“We want to sincerely thank everyone for the support since Diehl’s diagnosis,” Jaman said.

kathy.gallant@jpbg.ca

On Twitter @ReporterKath