Annual Mike Schmitt tournament Dec. 27-30

The Truro and Area Minor Hockey Association is gearing up for its annual holiday Christmas tournament.

The Mike Schmitt Memorial tournament will be held Dec. 27 to 30 at the Colchester Legion Stadium and Rath Eastlink Community Centre.

“It’s great for the community,” said Andrew St. Coeur, president of the TAMHA and host committee member. “There’s hotels that are obviously impacted and local businesses, so I think it’s good for the local economy for sure.

“It’s nice too for us to host the tournament over the holidays; it’s great because it means our teams aren’t travelling close to the holidays, so that’s definitely a positive for us for sure.”

The rep tournament will feature six divisions – atom A and AA, peewee A and AAA and bantam A and AA.

“We will see fairly high-level hockey,” said St. Coeur.

A ceremonial puck drop, which will include members of Mike Schmitt’s family, will take place on Dec. 27 at the stadium at 1 p.m. On Dec. 29, a We Care About Cancer Fund special presentation will take place at the stadium at 2:45 p.m.

The Truro bantam A and AA squads are host teams for the tournament and will be in charge of looking after the hospitality room at the stadium and dressing room clean-up between games. They will also host a silent auction fundraiser. Admission to all games is free, however, the host committee encourages fans to purchase 50-50 tickets and bid on silent auction items.

Phil Sears tournament

In Brookfield, the South Colchester Minor Hockey Association will host its annual Phil Sears Memorial Friendship Tournament Dec. 27 and 28 at the Don Henderson Memorial Sportsplex.

The event is for IP2, IP3, novice development and novice intermediate teams.