A big weekend at TOSH

Around 600 to 700 athletes were in Summerside for Voye tournament

There will be no shortage of activity on the grounds of Three Oaks Senior High School later this week.

Play in the 21st annual David R. Voye Memorial rugby tournament begins early Thursday evening, and continues through until Saturday afternoon.

“Dave Voye was the driving force behind getting the rugby program started here at Three Oaks in the early ‘90s,” explained Three Oaks athletic director Joel Arsenault. “When David passed away, the tournament began in 1997 in his memory.”

A total of 24 teams – 12 boys and 12 girls – will compete in the 2017 event.

“It certainly involves the most student-athletes of any tournament that we run here at the school,” said Arsenault. “You are looking at 600 to 700 studentathletes in town this weekend.

“We use our three fields here at Three Oaks, and we are in the process of getting them ready to go. We get a lot of positive comments on it from the visiting teams.”

All of the teams are from P.E.I., New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with the exception of Bishop Smith Catholic High School in Pembroke, Ont.

“They are part of a YMCA exchange with our women’s team,” explained Arsenault.

“They just arrived on P.E.I., they’ll be staying for the week, will do some cultural things and they’ll finish off their trip by participating in the Voye tournament.”

The Three Oaks senior AAA girls’ squad returned from their visit to Bishop Smith last week.

“Our girls were able to play some games up there as part of the exchange, and while Bishop Smith is here they will play an exhibition game against Montague on Tuesday at Charlottetown Rural,” offered Arsenault.

The Voye tournament, which has grown in popularity in recent years, traditionally draws big crowds, especially on championship day.

Another big part of a successful tournament, Arsenault noted, is the contribution of around a dozen student volunteers.