Weekend of fun

Times Editor

 

The Wheatland Athletics Association (WAA) hosted their annual three-on-three hockey tournament April 5, 7-8 at the Strathmore Family Centre.

Upcoming atom, peewee and bantam aged players from the WAA draw area took part in the fun tournament, which introduced them to the association.

“We just want people to know that we are here … and see the benefit or what advantages we can bring them if they do choose to tryout for Wheatland,” said WAA president Sandy Henry. “It is a promotion that we are here and we’re an alternative if you really want to play elite hockey.”

According to Henry, the three-on-three is not an evaluation tournament, rather a fun game of shinny versus players their own age.

Despite being hosted by the WAA, the tournament is not only for elite level players, but for children who want to have fun, regardless of skill level.

“We try to build the teams evenly,” said Henry. “We mix up the skill level, we try and mix up communities as well, just for a social aspect. That is certainly important, especially at the peewee level, where the integration of all the communities comes together (for the first time).” 

The annual three-on-three tournament has been in existence since the early 1990’s and is looking to grow in the future.

With the current format, there is a lot of open ice, which makes for some fun and exciting hockey to watch.

According to Henry, roughly 100 players took part in the weekend tournament, which is a lower number than last year.

“There are definitely a couple of factors,” said Henry of the decline in attendance. “Our bantam and peewee teams played a lot more hockey this year (with the playoff and provincials), so they aren’t nearly as fresh or enthusiastic about putting on the equipment one more time. 

“Then definitely Easter took some families out of the community with other commitments.”

Despite all those factors, it was a successful way to close out the 2011-2012 hockey season.