Whitecourt Minor Hockey Atoms host a successful tournament at the Scott Safety Centre

 

The Whitecourt Minor Hockey Atom teams held their annual tournament this past weekend at the Scott Safety Centre. Over the two days, teams from several different communities descended onto the twin arenas for comradery and great hockey. Atom players range from nine to 10 years of age and over 50 local kids took part on one of the three Whitecourt teams.

The season is just getting underway for the Atoms and all the players were excited for the yearly tournament. In order to make the weekend happen a large group of volunteers are needed, and thanks to over 100 parent volunteers, things ran smoothly. Each team was guaranteed three games over the course of the weekend.

One of the volunteers, Devon Spencer, announced every single game on the Athabasca rink side which even included a light show. He didn’t even have a child in the tournament but still chose to spend the entire weekend giving the kids a great experience. “We really want to give him a special shout out for what he did for us and the kids. He’s amazing,” said event co-chair Chelsey Sproule.

Twelve teams took part and travelled in from Dawson Creek, Slake Lake, Peace River, High Prairie, Calahoo, Edmonton, Drayton Valley, and Edson. “It went really well. Upstairs where the raffles and tickets are has been very busy. We’ve also filled nine boards so far for our 50/50 and each one has 100 squares. At two bucks a ticket that’s $100 for the winner and $100 for us, per board.”

Thanks to generous donors, the raffle table was filled with different prizes including Oilers and Oil Kings tickets, jerseys, handmade signs, and much more. Volunteers wandered around both arenas selling tickets, filling the toonie boards up, and helping to raise as much as possible for the club. Money raised supports the teams throughout the season.

“All the proceeds go to Whitecourt Minor Hockey minus the $300 per team. It will support tournaments and it helps with apparel costs. The kids like to go into tournaments, so it often goes towards tournament fees,” explained Sproule. The November 24/25 tournament kept the arena bustling with activity as kids moved from arena to arena to play different teams or pop up to the Overtime Grill for a bite to eat.

“We would like to send out a huge thank you to all the players, all the volunteers, and especially all the sponsors. We couldn’t do this without our parent volunteers and all the help from the board. Everything went off without a hitch. Thank you so much!”