The youngest hockey players in the city were competing in their own annual tournament on the weekend, making friends and improving skills. The kids in the Initiation Program, aged from 6-7, both from Yorkton and the surrounding area, were part of the IP Tournament hosted at the Gallagher Centre.
IP director Mark Schendel describes the tournament as the 鈥渃herry on top of the cake鈥� for the kids in the IP program. Sixteen teams participated, the six Yorkton teams and ten from the surrounding area.
鈥淚t鈥檚 so great for our wonderful community. We have people staying in hotels, visiting restaurants, visiting stores. It鈥檚 a really good thing that we have a lot of visiting teams.鈥�
The A-Side was won in overtime by the Yorkton Fritters, winning 11-10 over the Wadena Panthers. While it was nice to have a win in the final, Schendel says that the priority for the tournament is not the end result, but instead for kids to have fun, get exercise, improve their hockey skills and get a sense of belonging that comes from being part of a team.
鈥淪port teaches so many life lessons. These kids learn over the past five months about hard work, commitment, teamwork, good communication skills鈥� I don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going to happen with these kids with hockey down the road, but these are skills they are going to be relying on later in life.鈥�
Schendel would like to thank the tournament committee for their work putting the weekend together.
鈥淚t was just an A-1 event.鈥�
The Yorkton Terriers also supported the program, giving game passes to the players in the tournament.
The tournament marks the end of the season, and Schendel is proud of what the teams have accomplished and how they have improved over the course of the season.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of a mixed reaction here at the end, I鈥檓 so happy that we won the A-side but I鈥檓 also sad that it brings the end to the season.鈥�
Schendel would like to thank the kids for the work they put in as part of the hockey program, their parents for support, and the officials for their work during the games.聽
