Thousands of dollars have been raised for the family of a fallen Edmonton Police officer thanks to a soccer game on Sunday afternoon.
FC Edmonton hosted the inaugural Woodall Cup matching members of the Edmonton Police Service Blues soccer team against a group of British ex-pats, the British Selects, in honour of Const. Dan Woodall.
“We thought 100, 200 people, send around some buckets and collect some money and that would be it,” event manager Paul Hainsworth said.
Instead, the event saw over $1,000 in ticket sales along with $6,000 worth of items donated for a silent auction.
Hainsworth said all the money would be given to Const. Woodall’s family.
“I can’t thank people enough for everything that they are doing. It is just so amazing to think that people want to help us so much,” Claire Woodall told CTV News.
She said the money would be used to send her two boys, Const. Woodall’s sons, to post-secondary school, “and do things that they might not have been able to do before.”
Hainsworth said he was amazed at the reaction of Edmontonians to Const. Woodall’s death.
“The thing that really got to me was just the outpouring of emotion from everybody in Edmonton. I have never seen it in a city when a police man has died and everybody’s come together.”
He added they hoped to make it an annual event.
“It is a celebration today. We didn’t want it to be a memorial.”
Claire said the event was a fitting one as her husband loved soccer.
“This is the last event and it feels like it is the most poignant right now because it is something that Dan loved doing.”
FC Edmonton said they were happy to donate the field before their match with Atlanta.
“We are donating all of our people and all of our set up crew and the time keeper and the announcers and the field. So, it is a small thing but we think it is a big thing. We are delighted to help out the cause,” GM Rod Proudfoot said.
Const. Woodall was killed in the line of duty on June 8.
With files from Amanda Anderson
