Rossland-Trail Minor Hockey Association’s (RTMHA) tier-2 and tier-3 Pee Wee hockey teams are combining forces this year to host their annual tournament.
Over 300 hockey players, coaches and parents will descend on Greater Trail for a 14-team event that starts Friday, with games all day Saturday and finals on Sunday.
“This is the first year we’ve combined the tier 2 and tier 3 at the same time,” said RTMHA president Mark Ballarin. “It’s just something we wanted to try to see if we could get more teams to come.”
The tournament will utilize the Beaver Valley Arena, the Cominco Arena and the Rossland Arena in order to accommodate all 30 games.
Familiar teams from Spokane, and the Okanagan Mainline Hockey Association will attend including its top tier 2 and 3 teams, Penticton and Kelowna, as well as unknowns from Coquitlam and Vancouver and as far away as Whitehorse, Yukon, making it one of the biggest tournaments in Greater Trail this season.
Although the level of competition is high-calibre, Ballarin says the Rossland-Trail teams will be very competitive.
The first games Friday will see Rossland-Trail tier 2 take on Spokane at 12:45 at the Beaver Valley Arena, while the Rossland-Trail tier 3 squad will face off against Creston at 3 p.m. at the Cominco Arena.