It’s a sweet 16 for one of the largest female hockey tournaments in the province.
Fifty teams, almost a third of which are local, in 11 divisions from U7 to U18, will take to the ice at five community rinks when the 16th annual Okotoks Female Hockey Classic returns this weekend.
“It’s a little bigger than it was last year,” said tournament co-chair Jennifer Dustow. “We continue to see growth from U9 right through to U18 and typically those older ages, U15, U18 is where we start to see girls leaving the sport and focusing on other things, jobs and school, but we’ve done a great job of sustaining those numbers.”
Fittingly, 16 of the 50 squads will have home ice advantage with Okotoks boasting two teams in the U18 B, U15 B, U13 B, U11 B and U9 divisions.
The tournament features 14 Oilers minor hockey squads along with the Rocky Mountain Raiders’ U15 AA and U13 AA teams.
“Ultimately Okotoks is the main feeder contributor to those (Raiders) programs so it’s been nice to incorporate them and make them a part of the tournament so our teams can showcase that next level where most of these girls aspire to play and be,” Dustow said.
“It’s been an exciting addition and if there was more ice in Okotoks, we could probably even expand past that because we do have those other girls teams at U18 AA and AAA that could be incorporated as well.”
Okotoks teams have a history of making golden memories at the event.
Oilers squads qualified for four gold medal games at last year’s event and won both the U18 A and U18 B divisions.
Dustow said the 2023 event will feature upwards of 850 athletes and an influx of 3,000 people to the community.
“We’d love to have the community out to support,” she said. “We’ve got the silent auction and raffle tables which are always a big hit with the local community.”
The volunteer effort is considerable with two tournament co-chairs, Dustow and Crystal Crawford, and a committee of 16 putting all of the puzzle pieces together before puck drop.
“Then it’s on the teams, the teams do the bulk of the volunteer work throughout the weekend to make this event a success,” Dustow said. “It really is about 250 local families who pull this event off in this community.”
This year’s event will be played at the Murray and Piper arenas at the Okotoks Recreation Centre, Scott Seaman Sports Rink and the Okotoks Centennial Arenas.
For a full tournament schedule and rundown, visit omhatournaments.com.
