Westlock-area fun hockey teams certainly lived up to their title last weekend at the Jubilee Arena, where the Westlock Fun Hockey Association’s Canadiens hosted eight other clubs.
Association president Jeff Blades said he was happy to be able to be part of putting this sort of tourney together, which with a total of nine teams was bigger than many others.
“Everything went really well,” he said. “The kids had lots of fun, and we heard from parents that it was a lot of fun.”
Westlock’s association put its own spin on the tournament, too, by having a smoke-and-light show at the beginning of each team’s first game to introduce all the players.
“They thought they were all-stars coming out onto the ice,” he said. “It takes a little more time, but I think the kids enjoy it. Then all the grandparents and fans get to see it, too.”
All the teams that took part were from neighbouring communities, with the furthest-away teams coming from Rich Valley and Fort Assiniboine. Two teams each from Barrhead and Neerlandia made the trek, as well as one team each from Fawcett and Linaria.
Blades said nobody kept track of who won or lost, rather it was simply about having the teams get together to play hockey.
Every player was awarded a medal at the end of the event.
“Every game was just a fun game. All the kids got a medal presented to them after their second game,” he said. “We called them all up and put it around their necks.”
Blades noted that having a bit of corporate sponsorship really helped with the event, making it possible to host so many teams as well as put on the smoke-and-light show.
“We try to keep this as low-cost to the kids as possible, because we have such a wide variety of children playing the game,” he said.
Despite the many hours of volunteer that goes into hosting a tournament like this, Blades said the organization is looking forward to doing it again next year.
“We’re definitely going to do it again. We’re going to think about hosting the younger age group next year, but you never know,” he said.
“As long as we’ve got a lot of volunteer support, I’m sure it will definitely go.”
