Squamish not only lost seven members of the community in last Saturday's horrific accident, it also lost two young athletes who were both valuable assets to their respective teams.
Ian Barbour, 16, and Jasdeep Sandhu, 19, were both active players in the Squamish sports scene. Barbour was a forward for the Squamish Midget C minor hockey team and an excellent snowboarder.
A strong, independent young man, he also played football, golf, and worked out regularly at the gym.
Barbour, who played as a forward for the Squamish Midget C team, played each game with a tremendous amount of effort and heart.
"He was a real nice kid and a very courageous boy. He really played hard when he played," said coach Kerry Laferriere. "He was always very positive - the team is going to miss him for sure."
Ian and his father Al were heading to Brackendale to pick up Ian's girlfriend before heading to Sechelt to take part in a league game. When he didn't show up for the game, the team thought he had just missed the ferry. They didn't find out what had happened until after the game.
"Before our game on Wednesday (Feb. 4) we'll have a brief prayer for Ian so they players can say a few words. He was a team player and some of the players have really been affected."
As a tribute to Barbour, all of the players will wear stickers with his name on their helmets for the remainder of the season.
Jasdeep Sandhu was a member of the Squamish Khalsa Jr. soccer club.
"He was always happy," said close friend Ranjit Thandi. "He was always the first one to hockey, the first one to soccer - he was just always fun to be around."
"He was a great player and a tough kid," said Paul Sangha. "Anywhere you wanted him to play he would play. He would be ready to go every single time. He was always so positive and just had such an awesome attitude about everything, he was so valuable to our team - he's really going to be missed."
Sandhu started playing competitive soccer in the Squamish house league at the age of 12, along with seven or eight close friends all born in the same year.
"It's affecting them a lot," said Sandhu's former coach and Khalsa member Gurmej Sangha. "They all graduated together and played together for many years - they are all really close friends."
Khalsa FC football club plans to honour Sandhu with a minute of silence prior to their next game.
