Even though this winter has been a little warmer than usual, it hasn’t stopped the organizers of the Tim Hortons Western Canada Pond Hockey Championship from putting together another successful post-Christmas tournament.
The Chestermere-based ice hockey tournament has run for seven years, and usually features 16 rinks built on the northeast corner of Chestermere Lake where approximately 100 teams play four on four with no goalies. This year is a little smaller, with tournament organizers building only nine playing surfaces.
“We had to cut almost 300 kids just because we couldn't build 16 rinks by hand,” said Alex Halat, the tournament organizer. At its last inspection, Halat said the ice thickness was measured at 10 inches. However, because of the warm weather, the tournament organizers were told they couldn’t use machines to help build the rinks–which is why this year's tournament features less teams.
Over the years, as the tournament has grown in size and popularity, and more money has been raised for local charities. Halat said that this year almost 90 per cent of teams in the tournament had corporate sponsors.
“We had a lot of organizations step up and sponsor teams,” said Halat. “Typically that's where the revenue comes from–sponsors like Tim Hortons and the City of Chestermere and United Cycle are our three major sponsors that help make this event go.”
Halat added that the money raised this year will be going towards charities like the Chestermere Food Bank, the Women’s Crisis Shelter, and Synergy, which is an organization that operates as a youth shelter and addresses youth unemployment.
Once the tournament comes to an end, Halat said that the rinks will be available for people in the community to take advantage of, and the ice surfaces will continue to be maintained throughout the winter months.
“It's a good time,” said Halat. “It's been pretty laid back compared to years past just because we have 30 less teams, but it's been enjoyable and the weather has been amazing. And once this is done, we'll start in January planning for 2024.”
