Most of the hard work has been done and the results so far have been overwhelmingly positive, so now all Cathy Martins and the hundreds of supporters in the bid to have Osoyoos named Kraft Hockeyville 2012 can do is sit and wait.
Submissions to the wildly popular national contest, sponsored by CBC and Kraft, closed on January 31. A group of panelists are now scouring through the tens of thousands of submissions from hundreds of communities as part of the process to select the final 15 communities, said Martins.
“The official announcement of the final 15 towns will be made during the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast on March 3,” said Martins, the local hockey fanatic who got the ball rolling to have Osoyoos entered into the Kraft Hockeyville contest more than one month ago.
Three communities from each of the five regions – Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, Western Canada and Pacific – will be selected to advance to the finals.
A nationwide vote will then be held to determine the final winner of Kraft Hockeyville, with the winning community receiving not only the prestige of being the most passionate about our national game in the entire country, but also a $100,000 upgrade of the local arena and right to hold an NHL pre-season game next fall.
While submissions are closed, Martins said local hockey fans who haven’t done so yet can still sign up as members supporting the local bid on the Kraft Hockeyville website.
The top three entries from each region will be judged based on originality, community spirit and passion for hockey, said Martins.
While the decision of the judging panel is final, Martins believes Osoyoos is virtually guaranteed to make the final list of 15 communities.
“We’ve been at or near the top since I first entered, so I really like our chances of making the finals,” she said. “The amount of community support has just been incredible and to have more than 200 people show up last week for the community photo and video was just amazing.
“I’ll be very shocked and disappointed if Osoyoos doesn’t make the finals, but that decision is out of our hands now, so all we can do is sit and wait.”
Martins said organizing the Kraft Hockeyville bid for this community has been an amazing amount of fun.
“Everybody I’ve run into has been super supportive,” she said. “It has been an awesome experience and very cool to see how everyone in the community has come together to make this all happen.”
The small town of Conception Bay, Newfoundland was the 2011 Kraft Hockeyville winner, so there’s no reason a small town like Osoyoos can’t be in the running to win it all, she said.
The last time a community from British Columbia was named the national champion was four years ago when Terrace was named Kraft Hockeyville.
One the final 15 communities are named March 3, the nationwide vote will take place from March 4-6, with the eventual champion to be named shortly thereafter, Martins said.
“If we make the final 15 like I think we will, then we really need the people here to keep it going and vote, vote, vote,” she said.
