Harper competes at World Police and Fire Games
<p>BCSO deputy Kim Harper, with patch on jersey, just returned from playing hockey in Ireland. (Courtesy photo)</p>
SANDPOINT — Local hockey enthusiast and Bonner County Sheriff’s Deputy Kim Harper thought she’d never meet any nicer people than she did in Australia two years ago at the World Police and Fire Games.
Then she went to the games in Ireland earlier this month, and lo and behold, she did just that. Harper was blown away by the amazing people she met at the 2013 games in Belfast, Ireland.
“The people from Ireland are so warm, welcoming, friendly, giving,” said Harper, who just recently returned to Sandpoint after representing her country in hockey. “They gave us jerseys, rides to the airport, it was amazing.”
Harper, 44, and her Las Vegas-based team was one point away from winning a bronze medal, holding their own in an event that drew 26 teams of police and firemen from around the globe. Harper has taken part in six of the games, which are held every two years, and for the first time ever there were other women playing hockey, as Northern Ireland had two females.
“It was very competitive,” said Harper, who had no problem mixing it up with the men on other teams. “We all had a good time and after the game met people from all over the world.”
After the games Harper was asked by the North American Blue team to play in a tournament in Florida in January, and possibly San Diego in June, both of which she hopes to try and make, if possible.
Harper enjoyed Ireland so much that she stretched the trip out an extra week.
The next World Police and Fire Games will be held in Fairfax, Virginia in 2015, and Harper hopes to keep competing in the games as long as possible. For now she’ll continue to play in a Post Falls league with locals Tom Chasse, Rob Pierce, Joe Rafferty and Michael Lorden.