SUNDRE — After being forced like so many other organizations last year to cancel annual events, Sundre Rec Hockey was glad to once again be able to extend an invitation for teams to join the fun tournament over the weekend.
Games started on Friday evening and wrapped up Sunday, with 15 teams — three squads in five tiers with a range of players aged four to 18 — each getting to play two games. Coming to town to play were teams from from Cremona, Didsbury, Olds, and Rocky Mountain House.
“Feedback was good,” said Shawn MacNeil, the organization’s president. “Everybody had a good time.”
Overall, despite a couple of minor behind-the-scenes wrinkles that didn’t derail anything, the event largely went off without a hitch, he said.
“I think it went pretty well. There was a few things that we’d forgotten about, but we managed to power through,” he said with chuckle.
As a non-competitive fun league, the objective of hosting the annual tournament is less about claiming trophies and championship titles, and much more about having a good time, he said.
“We don’t really post who wins,” he said.
All of the tier 1 and 2 players were given medals, while the tier 3 to 5 teams received gift cards to some local restaurants, an expense covered by the organization through tournament entry fees, he said.
Working in tandem with tournament organizers in an effort to mutually help one another out, he added some local restaurants also timed weekend specials that provided patrons with a percentage off of their meals.
“We really appreciate that kind of support from the community,” he said, expressing gratitude not only to business owners and individuals who donated either prizes for the raffle table or cash donations, but also volunteers who pitched in their time to make the tournament possible.
“It takes a lot of volunteers to run that tournament over the weekend,” he said.
Overall, the season itself has also gone well for Sundre Rec Hockey, he said.
“The COVID thing makes it a little difficult at times,” he said. “But all in all, most of the people are fairly good at following the masking rules and everything that we have to have for the kids to be able to play.”
For the most part, parental feedback has been positive, he said.
“They’re happy the kids are actually able to play games, where we weren’t last year allowed to do any of that.”
