I recently had the opportunity to talk to Colby Collier, Nashville’s own hockey content creator, beer leaguer, and hockey dad. He’s the “head honcho” for Nashville’s Wish Cup, a roller and ice hockey tournament benefitting the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Middle Tennessee.
RK: To begin, please tell us a bit about the Wish Cup and your plans for the tournament in its second year.
CC: I guess to start here we need to go back to the 18-19 NHL season. My son Asher was turning four in March and through a laundry list of medical issues he was granted a wish through Make-A-Wish. If you know anything about him or have been around him for more than two minutes you know the kid is just crazy about hockey. His wish was to become a Nashville Predator. So in March of 2019 the Nashville Predators, the Nashville Predators Foundation and Make-A-Wish Middle Tennessee all got together and granted his wish.
We have been looking for something to keep Asher involved in hockey and at the same time a way for our family to give back to the Make-A-Wish Foundation so in 2020 we came up with the Wish Cup. Last year had (2) one-day tournaments for ice hockey and roller. This year we are going bigger….full three-day events for both the ice and roller tournaments, and we hope to double our donation of $8,400 from last year.
Why is the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Middle Tennessee important to you and your family?
You see Make-A-Wish events on TV and on social media but it never really hit me how much an event like a wish can change a child’s life. There’s an expression we have used around our events and promoting them and it’s “Wishes Change Lives,” because we have seen first hand what a wish can do in a family’s life. Our goal is to be able to give back to the organization that gave us so much joy so that they can in turn grant other kids’ wishes.
This year, there’s an ice tournament and a roller tournament. How many teams and players do you expect to see in both tournaments?
This year’s registration is going well. We expect to see around 25-30 teams for both events across the divisions.
Do the tournament winners receive a prize?
Yes, each winning division will receive a trophy in addition to prize packs from our sponsors that we are currently building.
You’re allowing teams to design their own jerseys this year. What themes will we see this summer?
We are really excited to see the custom jerseys that some teams have designed. I have seen a few floating around that have the Wish Cup logo on them and I am working with a few vendors for my guys to create our “Wish, Snipe, CELLY!” jerseys. They will definitely be something to keep an eye on!
How can someone support the Wish Cup without skating in the tournament?
Great question. Anyone can go directly to this link, which is a donation page setup by Make-A-Wish, and donate directly to the event. These donations will be added directly to the total that the event donates to Make-A-Wish Middle TN.
How can our readers find out more about the Make-A-Wish foundation and the Wish Cup?
[The] biggest thing is to check out are our social channels. I have them all linked below in addition to the sign ups and our direct donation link:
- The Wish Cup Roller – https://www.themdmedia.com/wish-cup-roller
- The Wish Cup Ice – https://www.themdmedia.com/wish-cup-ice
- Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/thewishcup/
- Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/thewishcup
- Make-A-Wish Middle Tennessee – https://wish.org/midtn/
Author note: I’m hoping to procure a few jerseys from this year’s tournament to support the Wish Cup!
Many thanks to Colby for taking the time to answer a few questions for us! While the tournament is a few months away, there’s no better time to plan if you want to put a team in the tournament, support the Wish Cup, or take a look at what the Make-A-Wish Foundation does for kids and their families. Be sure to follow him on Twitter at @themdmedia.
The Wish Cup (Roller) is May 28 – 30, 2021.
The Wish Cup (Ice) is July 23 – 26, 2021.