Pookie Bears – Erin

Captain: Chloe Ringler and Max Tolmachev

What is the origin story behind your team name?

we got our team together and put us all in a group chat. When it came time for me to register us, I had to put in a team name in the box but I am not creative whatsoever. I asked the group chat what the name should be, when Gavin said “the Pookie Bears”. No one else suggested anything else so we went with it. I don’t know if he was serious or joking but I hated it at first. We ended up sticking with it and made custom jerseys too and now I always get asked who the hell are the Pookie Bears. The name has really grown on me since and I now love my bears. 🐻

How we all know each other:
I did not know any juniors in Toronto till I met Max on a field in a tournament in Guelph. I live in the middle of nowhere and I played seniors over the summer, while he played Toro and was familiar with the kids in Toronto. I  played a good chunk of adult 4v4 tournaments with UE and absolutely love them, and when I found out that UE was releasing a junior season I suggested that he get a bunch of his friends and we made a team. All of our players (not me) are from Uproar and Toro.

Pookie Bears stands out in our newly minted Juniors 4v4 scene as the only Juniors self-organizing team so far. They are motivated and passionate about the game, and that drive will take them far in life. We love facilitating opportunities for players to come together and have fun through sport.