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Photo Courtesy Grande Prairie Minor Hockey Association
Local Sports

Close to 600 players attend U9 Mega Hockey Tournament

Jan 20, 2023 | 6:00 AM

A U9 Mega Tournament held in Grande Prairie last weekend at the Design Works Centre saw 36 teams and around 575 players and their families flood into Grande Prairie.

Nicole Menzies, the co-commissioner of the U9 Division with the Grande Prairie Minor Hockey Association, says the tournament was a huge success, coincidently taking place during the Grande North Winter Festival, which gave the players and teams numerous activities to take part in throughout the weekend.

She adds it would not be possible without community sponsors and volunteers.

“It’s really amazing to see people are still making some tough financial decisions coming out of COVID, but recognize the importance of minor sports and getting kids involved, and not just in learning the game and playing the game they love, but in learning those life lessons of sportsmanship and stuff like that.”

“The way that people have said this is still really important to us and were going to support you has really been amazing.”

Menzies adds it is also a really big deal for the local players as they usually have to drive hours to games or tournaments, but with this one, the kids got to play in front of their home crowd and show off the organization.

Photo Courtesy Grande Prairie Minor Hockey Association

Only ten of the teams in the tournament were local, which means 25 teams were staying in hotels and using all the different amenities around Grande Prairie, factoring in Winter Fest and Arm Wrestling events that took place last weekend.

Menzies says they didn’t plan to host the tournament the same weekend as all those events, but it was good for the teams who were able to go out and partake in different activities, helping them bond and creating positive memories of Grande Prairie.

“25 of our teams were from out of town, so it’s pretty cool for us to showcase the city. I know lots of teams were eating at restaurants, using the Eastlink Centre, the pool.”

“We had 18 teams that the Storm hosted to come to a game and watch. A lot of the teams also enjoyed the Winter Fest that was going on.”

She adds on Sunday, which was an off day for the Storm, the team still went down to the Design Works Centre to give some pre-game speeches. They also gave some tips and handed out medals.

“Our Junior A Storm players are superheroes to these kids, and for the kids to see the players at their tournament, the guys were going into the dressing rooms giving them pep talks, thanking the kids for coming to their games.”

“We had told the kids ‘Hey you guys came to their games so they wanted to come to yours.’ They were handing out medals, taking pictures and signing autographs.”

Menzies says these are memories that will stay with these kids forever, and as they get older, there’s a good chance some of the kids will wear the Storm jersey and pay it forward.

Photo Courtesy Grande Prairie Minor Hockey Association

Some highlights from the tournament included a capped-out 50/50 with a total of $20,000… one local took home $10,000.

Menzies would like to thank all of the sponsors, volunteers and players that made the weekend so special, and would like to give a big thanks to her other co-commissioner, Karolina Brown.

Photo Courtesy Grande Prairie Minor Hockey Association