Another great year for the Tournament of Hearts

The Whitecourt Hotshots Ladies team held its annual Tournament of Hearts at the Scott Safety Centre over the weekend. A total of 13 teams took part in the mixed tournament with ladies’ games taking place on the McLeod rink and men’s games playing out on the Athabasca rink. The weekend festivities have been taking place for over 30 years and are always something that area teams look forward to each February.

The teams taking part were mostly from Whitecourt with a few teams from out of town including Edmonton, Onoway, Mayerthorpe, and Edson. In previous years, there has been an even number of teams for the men and women (eight teams each) but this year was short with seven teams for the men and six for the women.   

Upstairs in the restaurant area where organizers and fans could watch the action happening below them on both rinks at the same time, there was a large table of raffle items set up. A wide variety of donated items were up for grabs including Edmonton Oilers tickets, gift sets and baskets, personal products, and even a hockey stick made of money, literally.

Team manager Kelsey Rawluk said the teams were doing well and that people were coming out to watch. “On Friday, the stands were quite full on the men’s side. It’s nice to have fans come out!” The tournament helps the team fund for yearly fees and the costs of ice time. “Renting ice is expensive so this tournament helps us pay for that.”

Member of the Hotshots team, Alycia Krysik, said if it wasn’t the team coming together to put on the event, it wouldn’t be possible. “Thank you to all the players on our team for their help in running the tournament. We also want to thank all the players and fans for supporting us. Thank you for treating everyone with respect.”

So far this season, the Hotshots are having a lot of fun and Krysik said they have an open invitation to any local women who are interested in lacing up their skates. “We would love to have more women come out and play with us. Our regular schedule has us playing approximately every Thursday and we have one to two games a week. The team travels for games during the season but we don’t go far.” She said the furthest they go is Fox Creek, Onoway, and Mayerthorpe. “It’s a lot of fun and we have great comradery with our team and the other teams. We will take anyone whether you are skilled or not. We just want people to come out and have fun.” Anyone interested in joining the team can call Rawluk at 780-779-3943.