Hosted by the Colchester Female Minor Hockey Association, this year’s tournament has attracted 19 teams and will see host teams (Wilson Home Heating Cyclones) participating in four divisions: atom A, peewee A, bantam A and midget AA.
The host rink will be the West Colchester United Arena in Debert with games also being played at the Don Henderson Memorial Sportsplex in Brookfield.
Tournament chairman Lowell Sherry says fans can look forward to a weekend of entertaining hockey.
“The four different divisions are comprised of female players from ages nine to 17. Teams from across Nova Scotia and New Brunswick will be here participating in this year’s tournament.”
Sherry saluted local volunteers who stage the event.
“This tournament would not be possible without the efforts of a small group of volunteers, comprised mostly of parents of our female players. I’d like to ask fans to please support their efforts by taking in some great hockey during our tournament weekend.”
For those of us who enjoy refreshing hockey outlooks, there’s nothing like talking with young players. Forwards Brooklyn Bagnell-Lauther and Kori Griffen are both eight years old and play for the Wilson Home Heating Cyclones atom A team coached by Bill Chapell.
“It is good to play against new teams in a tournament like this,” said Bagnell-Lauther, of Truro. “It makes you play hard. I’m really looking forward to next week’s hockey tournament. My favourite parts about hockey, is it’s great for making new friends; I like skating and I keep working to get better.”
Griffen, from East Mountain, was also enthusiastic.
“I really enjoy playing hockey and getting to meet a lot of new people. Hockey is a real fun sport to play – our hockey year has been really good, we’ve really had a lot of fun as a team.”
Baillie Griffen is Kori’s older sister and plays for the peewee Cyclones.
“My coach is Shawn Evans, he’s a really fun coach,” said Baillie, a 12-year-old centre. “Shawn teaches me lots of stuff about hockey. It’s been a really enjoyable year playing for Shawn as our coach.”
Willa Evans plays defence and is a peewee teammate of Baillie’s.
“I decided to play defence because my dad (Coach Evans) was a defenceman,” said Willa, also 12, of Truro. “Hockey is great; I like meeting new people and being on a team. I find it a lot of fun playing hockey and I’m looking forward to next week’s spring thaw tournament.”
After talking to atom and peewee players, it was good to talk with Shawndelle Fancy, a Cyclones bantam division defenceman coached by Dale Miller and Scott Masters.
“This is really exciting about the upcoming spring thaw hockey tournament,” said 14-year-old Fancy, of Valley. “Girls from across Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are coming to Truro to play, this is great! It will certainly add a lot of fun to the tournament. Our Cyclones team has players from Colchester County, Cumberland County and Antigonish – we actually have two home rinks, one in Debert and one in Antigonish. As teammates, we all get along really well together.”
Katrina Bagnell, 16, plays female midget hockey and is coached by Rob Phillips.
“One big thing about this hockey season has been stepping up to midget AA opposed to playing midget A hockey last year,” said Bagnell, of Truro. “This hockey is more intense, the coaching is stricter and I find there’s quite a difference in players’ skills and the speed of the game. The girls on our team have all improved this year, we’ve stepped our hockey up a notch in having to play against stronger players. One of the main fun parts is, everyone wants to win at the end of the day.”
As these young female players shared about next week’s Spring Thaw Female Hockey Tournament, their outstanding hockey knowledge, enthusiasm and sincerity definitely struck home.
Note the dates, March 16, 17 and 18, exciting female tournament hockey being played at the West Colchester United Arena in Debert, with several games to take place in Brookfield.
Lyle Carter’s sports column appears Saturdays in the Truro Daily News. If you have a story idea, contact him at 902 673-2857.
Hosted by the Colchester Female Minor Hockey Association, this year’s tournament has attracted 19 teams and will see host teams (Wilson Home Heating Cyclones) participating in four divisions: atom A, peewee A, bantam A and midget AA.
The host rink will be the West Colchester United Arena in Debert with games also being played at the Don Henderson Memorial Sportsplex in Brookfield.
Tournament chairman Lowell Sherry says fans can look forward to a weekend of entertaining hockey.
“The four different divisions are comprised of female players from ages nine to 17. Teams from across Nova Scotia and New Brunswick will be here participating in this year’s tournament.”
Sherry saluted local volunteers who stage the event.
“This tournament would not be possible without the efforts of a small group of volunteers, comprised mostly of parents of our female players. I’d like to ask fans to please support their efforts by taking in some great hockey during our tournament weekend.”
For those of us who enjoy refreshing hockey outlooks, there’s nothing like talking with young players. Forwards Brooklyn Bagnell-Lauther and Kori Griffen are both eight years old and play for the Wilson Home Heating Cyclones atom A team coached by Bill Chapell.
“It is good to play against new teams in a tournament like this,” said Bagnell-Lauther, of Truro. “It makes you play hard. I’m really looking forward to next week’s hockey tournament. My favourite parts about hockey, is it’s great for making new friends; I like skating and I keep working to get better.”
Griffen, from East Mountain, was also enthusiastic.
“I really enjoy playing hockey and getting to meet a lot of new people. Hockey is a real fun sport to play – our hockey year has been really good, we’ve really had a lot of fun as a team.”
Baillie Griffen is Kori’s older sister and plays for the peewee Cyclones.
“My coach is Shawn Evans, he’s a really fun coach,” said Baillie, a 12-year-old centre. “Shawn teaches me lots of stuff about hockey. It’s been a really enjoyable year playing for Shawn as our coach.”
Willa Evans plays defence and is a peewee teammate of Baillie’s.
“I decided to play defence because my dad (Coach Evans) was a defenceman,” said Willa, also 12, of Truro. “Hockey is great; I like meeting new people and being on a team. I find it a lot of fun playing hockey and I’m looking forward to next week’s spring thaw tournament.”
After talking to atom and peewee players, it was good to talk with Shawndelle Fancy, a Cyclones bantam division defenceman coached by Dale Miller and Scott Masters.
“This is really exciting about the upcoming spring thaw hockey tournament,” said 14-year-old Fancy, of Valley. “Girls from across Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are coming to Truro to play, this is great! It will certainly add a lot of fun to the tournament. Our Cyclones team has players from Colchester County, Cumberland County and Antigonish – we actually have two home rinks, one in Debert and one in Antigonish. As teammates, we all get along really well together.”
Katrina Bagnell, 16, plays female midget hockey and is coached by Rob Phillips.
“One big thing about this hockey season has been stepping up to midget AA opposed to playing midget A hockey last year,” said Bagnell, of Truro. “This hockey is more intense, the coaching is stricter and I find there’s quite a difference in players’ skills and the speed of the game. The girls on our team have all improved this year, we’ve stepped our hockey up a notch in having to play against stronger players. One of the main fun parts is, everyone wants to win at the end of the day.”
As these young female players shared about next week’s Spring Thaw Female Hockey Tournament, their outstanding hockey knowledge, enthusiasm and sincerity definitely struck home.
Note the dates, March 16, 17 and 18, exciting female tournament hockey being played at the West Colchester United Arena in Debert, with several games to take place in Brookfield.
Lyle Carter’s sports column appears Saturdays in the Truro Daily News. If you have a story idea, contact him at 902 673-2857.
