[Tournament Recap] Remembrance Day Tournament - Hosted by the Burnaby Wildcats

Burnaby Wildcats - Midget Division Champions. Photo Credit: Dan Galic (Action Pro Photo)

 8-Rinks in Burnaby was the place to be during the 7th Annual Female Hockey Remembrance Day Tournament. 36 teams from British Columbia and Washington converged upon the arena for a 3-day tournament that saw 74 games played as well as on-ice clinics conducted for participants. The tournament, hosted by the Burnaby Wildcats, welcomed players from 5 divisions of minor hockey – Novice, Atom, Pee Wee, Bantam, and Midget – and was a popular attraction for all teams in the region, as team registration was full within just a few weeks. Plans are in place to add more teams for next year’s tournament.

The players took to the ice to showcase the skills they work hard to build upon, and all teams came up with strong performances. The Vancouver Angels took home the Atom Championship. The North Shore Winter Club Hawks were the Champions of the Pee Wee division, and the Surrey Falcons took home the Bantam Championship. The tournament ended on high note for the host Burnaby Wildcats. After a strong showing from all the Burnaby teams, the Midget team was crowned the Champions of their division in front of their home-ice fans, after winning the final game in a dramatic shootout.

The atmosphere at 8-Rinks was raucous and celebratory all weekend long. Raffles prizes, 50/50 draws, team snacks, professional photo taking, a henna station, and even a Menchie’s ice cream bar helped make it a long weekend to remember for all participants and their families. Not lost amidst the festivities though was the true purpose of the long weekend across Canada. All games and activities came to a standstill at 11:00AM on Remembrance Day as players, fans, and volunteers stood to observe a moment of silence in honour of our troops. The Royal Canadian Legion was also on hand to sell poppies during the weekend.

A tournament of this size is not possible to execute without contributions from sponsors and volunteers. Whether it was through various sponsorships, raffle prize donations, donations of food for team snacks and meals, or donations of their time throughout the weekend, the volunteers, led by the Burnaby Minor Female Hockey Parents, were instrumental in the overall success of the tournament. The dedication of hockey parents was on full display all weekend long.

Tournaments like this one are an opportunity for participants to learn, grow, and mature both as hockey players and as young individuals. The lessons in team camaraderie, sportsmanship, work ethic, and overall responsibility are ones that they will take with them going forward and they will better enable the players to be successful in their future undertakings.

The great success of the tournament will see the Burnaby Wildcats host it again next year. The Burnaby Minor Hockey Association looks forward to welcoming all returning and new teams at next year's edition of the Remembrance Day Girls Hockey Tournament.

~ Jehan Jiwa