The Collingwood Girls Hockey Association welcomed 29 out-of-town teams and 16 Collingwood Lightning teams for a three-day hockey tournament in Collingwood that is being called a resounding success by its organizers.
The inaugural Collingwood Thundersnow Classic included about 700 players on 45 girls' teams playing in 10 divisions, including a U7 jamboree, with nine championship titles from U9 to U18 on the board.
Paul Crane, an executive board member for the local girls' hockey association and the tournament director, said the feedback was generally positive and there was a team of volunteers and generous sponsorships from within the local business communities that were integral to the tournament's success.
"We've always wanted a tournament, and the organization is young, but we started working on this and it took about a year to put all the parts together with a large committee within the organization," said Crane. "I think it might have exceeded our goals."
Games were played from Jan. 19-21 at both rinks in Collingwood (Eddie Bush and Central Park) as well as at Stayner, Creemore, and Beaver Valley arenas. Ice time was one of the challenges Crane and the organizing committee faced in planning the tournament.
Early in the tournament planning there wasn't enough ice time to accommodate all the games, and the committee had to "beg, borrow, and steal," to fill in the gaps.
Crane said Collingwood needs more ice, likely a double ice pad, in addition to what it already has, and he noted the tournament's future growth will be limited by available ice time.
With visiting teams coming from as far away as Manitoulin Island hotel space during peak ski season was also a challenge, said Crane.
"We had some teams that were in and then pulled out because they couldn't get rooms or couldn't get rooms at a price they wanted or thought was reasonable," said Crane.
Though Collingwood was the host of the tournament, that didn't prevent its local Lightning teams from taking home the hardware. Collingwood Lightning teams won five of the nine championship games on Sunday.
Crane joined Collingwood Girls Hockey Association a few years ago after working with girls' hockey teams in the GTA. He said he admires the philosophy of the local team and has been impressed with the growth of the organization, which now includes more than 400 players.
"I've worked a lot of tournaments before, but the group of people that I worked with here was unbelievable," said Crane. "When we needed something done, somebody stepped up and did it, there were no egos here at all, it was a great committee to work with and executive board."
Crane reiterated his and the association's gratitude to the business community, local timekeepers, officials and volunteers, without whom there wouldn't have been a tournament.
You can learn more about the Collingwood Girls' Hockey Association and the Thundersnow Classic on the website here.
