The SJHL Showcase is a major weekend event meant to show off the province's junior A league, but as Estevan and Spectra Place play host to the October event, organizers are asking for volunteers to help show off what this southeast Saskatchewan city has to offer.
Jeff Pierson, Bruins president, said they are looking for the number of necessary volunteers, multiplied by four.
"There are four games a day, and you can't expect everyone to (be there all day)," he said. "It's game day times four, for three days."
Volunteers' jobs during games involve penalty box door openers, scorekeepers and goal judges.
Pierson said the showcase is not only the Bruins' first step in hosting a large event in the arena but also the city's first big test of hosting a major weekend event.
"This is kind of our first step in this new rink of hosting something," said Pierson. "It's the SJHL showcase, which is done to showcase the players of the SJHL. It's also a chance for Estevan to showcase itself on how good it can host an event."
He sees the Showcase as a the first of three steps, with the end goal bringing the Royal Bank Cup, a tournament with the best junior A teams from across the country, to Estevan. Humboldt is hosting the tournament next year, and Weyburn hosted it in 2005.
If all goes well in October, Pierson considers the World Junior A Challenge would be the next event, before they can ultimately prove to be ready for the RBC Cup. Volunteer support could be the key factor in attracting these events. Pierson estimated about 200 volunteers are necessary to pull off an RBC Cup.
"If we have trouble getting people to the Showcase, I'd be really worried about getting future events, but I don't really see that being an issue. Estevan is traditionally very good at getting behind an event that will benefit the city. I don't see this being any different."
These events do a number of things to help the city, said Pierson, namely with the tourism industry, filling beds and seats in restaurants.
He said he didn't have exact numbers of how many people are brought into the area for the Showcase, but he noted there are four hotels involved in the upcoming event.
"For the hospitality sector, it's huge."
Keeping Spectra Place busy for three days and having a large number of people entering the new arena's gates is an added plus, proving Estevan has the hockey facility to support future events.
"Obviously it's a great thing for the city itself, in the use that Spectra Place gets. That's revenue from the concession and beer gardens and just employment, extra employment for these events."
Each of the 12 SJHL teams is represented at the Showcase, so Pierson said more than 300 people come into the city who belong just to the organizations. After that, scouts, parents and just people who love hockey are coming to check out the weekend of hockey.
"It's bringing well over 1,000 new people into the city, minimum. For three days, it's big."
For the RBC Cup, Pierson said they probably have a couple of years to prepare, but that 2015 could be a realistic date. It's a Hockey Canada event and moves between the west and east. It was hosted in the west in 2011 and 2012, so Pierson sees it moving east again for a couple of years. Then they might be in competition with B.C. to be the host.
"If you do the math, it's probably '15, because B.C.'s going to be screaming for it. I think '15 is probably a realistic date," Pierson said.
However, before there can be an application sent in, two co-chairs need to be signed on and committed to run the local organization. Pierson said those individuals are often either retired or have their own business where they can donate a lot of time to the event planning.
A lot those plans are still only dreams, and it's the Showcase in October that could help propel momentum in Estevan's favour for the next few years.
"This is just the first step in that process, I believe, and it's our goal to just put on a first-class event. I just want it to be real welcoming to all of our guests. We want them leaving going, 'Wow.'"
If you want volunteer for the SJHL Showcase, held from Oct. 14 to 16, you can leave your name with Becky Tait or Keith Cassidy at the Bruin office at 634-7730.
