Plenty of minor hockey action on tap this weekend
Teams from around southern Ontario will be flocking to the township for the fifth annual Woolwich Cup Challenge
YOUNG HOCKEY PLAYERS WILL descend on Woolwich Township this weekend for two days of friendly competition.
This year marks the fifth annual Woolwich Cup Challenge, which was started by Jasmine Roth.
“I just felt that there was need for a novice atom tournament within Woolwich as we have a tournament for peewee and all the other age groups,” Roth explained as to why she created the tournament for the young Woolwich Wildcats players.
On Saturday and Sunday games will begin as early as 7 a.m. and will run all day until 5:30 p.m. on Sunday. Teams will be competing from novice and atom local league and house league divisions.
“A lot of teams have said it’s a well-run tournament, it’s a great location, it’s close to everything and it’s a competitive tournament. The house league teams feel like they can compete and not one single team is better than the other. All the teams seem to be very competitive with each other, so they really like that appeal as well,” Roth said.
She notes teams from Lincoln and Lambton have competed in the tournament every year. Teams will drive a couple hours to get to Woolwich for the tournament, coming from as far away as Sarnia.
And the winners of each division vary each year. Some years a couple Woolwich teams will make it to the finals, but other years none will.
Registration spots were full in October, which may seem quick, but she says it usually fills up even faster than that.
“As soon as local league has been announced, the coaches have been found, usually it’s full within a couple of weeks,” Roth said.
She explains teams have to choose which tournaments to attend because they’re only allowed to compete in two, or three if one is an early bird or a Christmas tournament. She says most choose to do three, with at least one
home and at least one away. The away tournaments are good team building tools for both the players and the parents.
The biggest challenge she has found in organizing the tournament is finding volunteers and sponsorships, including small gifts to give away to the players and the people coming in to the community. This year the players will get foam mini-stick pucks with the Woolwich Cup Challenge logo on it. Last year they received ear buds. She tries to change it each year to add variety for the returning teams.
She welcomes anyone to come watch the young teams play over the weekend. Admission to the games is free.
“It’s great for local businesses, the restaurants and just the activities because they get all the business traffic. And they can see what we offer. A lot of people really think we’re just a small rural town but we do offer so much more.”
The Woolwich Cup Challenge runs from Jan. 14-15 at the Woolwich Memorial Centre on both ice pads and at the St. Jacobs Arena.