Heading into its 42nd year, the Osoyoos Atom Fiesta hockey tournament is now one of the longest running minor hockey tournaments in the entire province, says 2016 tournament director Gary Burton.
“The tournament was formed to celebrate the opening of the Sun Bowl Arena in Osoyoos and it has been around ever since,” said Burton.
A total of 12 teams will compete in the 2016 Atom Fiesta, which kicks off Friday at the Sun Bowl Arena.
Games start at 1:45 p.m. on Friday at the Sun Bowl Arena and Oliver Arena and continue into the evening.
The South Okanagan Minor Hockey Association Atom Rebels are once again the host team. They will play their first game of the tournament at 7:45 p.m. against Princeton following the opening ceremonies.
The local team will play their second game Saturday morning at 11 against Kamloops and their third game Saturday evening at 6 p.m. against Surrey.
If they win all three of their round-robin games, they will advance to the playoffs on Sunday and could also advance by winning two of those three games.
The bronze medal game will begin at 12:45 p.m. on Sunday at the Sun Bowl Arena.
The gold medal game is set to begin at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Sun Bowl Arena.
Teams from hundreds of miles away are coming to this year’s tournament as many teams plan an extended stay in and around Osoyoos as part of the Atom Fiesta, said Burton.
“This year we have teams from as far away as Quesnel, Kimberley, Revelstoke in B.C., then another team from Spokane and one coming all the way from the Tri-Cities in Washington State,” said Burton. “We’ve always managed to draw teams from a good distance away, but I can’t remember when we had so many teams coming from all over the place.”
The Sun Bowl Arena is usually packed to near capacity for the opening ceremonies of the Atom Fiesta and he expects the same kind of support on Friday night, said Burton.
“It’s a real energy boost for the kids on the Rebels to be able to play in front of a full house,” he said. “It’s really kind of cool to see our arena in Osoyoos filled right up on the opening night of the tournament every year.”
Burton also expects big crowds for all three preliminary games played by the Rebels and even bigger crowds should the team advance to the playoff round.
The Rebels finished in fifth place during the SOMHA regular season and third in the playoffs.
Playing well and winning a couple of games at least at this year’s Atom Fiesta would be a great way to wrap up the season, said Burton.
“This is the end of our season and it would be nice to go out with a bang,” he said. “We hope we can win a couple of games and maybe advance to the playoff round and hopefully have a lot of fun doing it.”
With so many teams travelling from outside the community every year, the Atom Fiesta has traditionally provided a nice economic boost to the community as dozens of players, coaches and family members stay in local hotels and motels and eat at local restaurants and pubs, said Burton.
Hockey fans are invited to take in the action all weekend in Osoyoos and Oliver. All games are free of charge. Opening ceremonies begin Friday at 7 p.m.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
