Don Urquhart, Times-Chronicle
Hockey mania is set to descend upon the province this weekend including Osoyoos’ Sun Bowl Arena which will play host to the U15 Rep provincials, the U11 Dev Atom Fiesta tournament and the Osoyoos Coyotes.
The South Okanagan Minor Hockey (SOMH) U11 Development team won their playoffs last weekend and plays host to the annual Atom Fiesta this weekend. The team is coached by Jason Palmer with manager Nina Ruck.
The Fiesta tournament has been running for about 48 years and used to be a big international tournament, something COVID-19 put a damper on.
Brianne Hillson, President/Ice Ambassador/Tournament Director says twelve teams will be coming to town with opening ceremonies this Friday at 7:30 p.m. with the tournament running through the weekend.
Meanwhile, the U13 Rep team is readying itself for a trip to the provincials in Trail, with fundraising in full swing over the last week or so to help cover the costs.
This includes a fundraiser hosted by the Sage Pub last weekend and a donation of $3,000 by the Osoyoos Elks Lodge #436.
With an overall season record of 37-3-4 and already two banners – Regular Season and Playoff Champions, (undefeated during both) – this team is set to make a run at the BC Hockey Tier 3 Provincials in Trail, BC from March 19-24 with hopes of bringing home the provincial banner to the South Okanagan.
The U15 Rep squad also made it to the provincials which are being held at Sun Bowl Arena starting on Monday, March 21 with opening ceremonies at 7:30 p.m. The gold medal game will be on Saturday, March 26. Eleven teams will be competing in this tournament.
The SOMHA U15 Rec team also won their playoff tournament last weekend and are Playoff Champions. The team is off to Lillooet next weekend to represent South Okanagan in the OMAHA District Championships. The U15 Rec team is coached by Boyd Turnbull, and Hillson is the manager. Hillson notest this is a significant accomplishment as it’s the first time in at least 15 years that SOMHA has sent a team to the districts.
And the U18 Rep team is also heading to the provincials in Summerland starting on March 21 and running until Thursday, March 24. Six teams are competing in this tournament. The U18 team will commute back and forth from Osoyoos.
“We’re just super excited to have three teams in the provincials,” Hillson said. This hasn’t happened in at least seven or eight years she added, “so this is quite an accomplishment”.
“It’s been a successful year with six banners hung in the arena,” she said. “We’re proud of all the kids, the parents for all their hard work this season because it’s been an unusual year but we seem to have all worked together and it’s a very exciting time for the association.”
