Photo: Brayden Ursel
Canada’s largest street hockey tournament made a stop in Kelowna over the Labour Day long weekend, inviting out hundreds of hockey players to compete in a fun, yet competitive atmosphere.
37 teams across five different divisions signed up for the multi-game Play On! tournament, with people of all ages, including the oldest player at 71 years of age.
According to Play On, this marked their tenth visit to Kelowna since the tournaments inception all the way back in 2003.
“It’s a little bit smaller than events we’ve had in the past, but with Labour Day weekend being what it is, some families that have historically played in this event are not here,” said founder Scott Hill.
“But that doesn’t dampen the enthusiasm as we have had a tremendous response from the community here.”
Outside of Prospera Place in downtown Kelowna, a number of games were played throughout the day Saturday, starting at 8 a.m. and wrapping up at 8 p.m.
Teams flocked from all around the province to get into the action, and there were even some teams from Alberta who made the trip across the border to play one of Canada’s greatest winter sports.
“Everyone is having a really great time celebrating street hockey, a game we all love… Street hockey is a big deal and some people live for this,” said Hill.
Regardless of the win-loss record for each team, everyone makes the playoff round, which is set for Sunday and will determine five different championship teams.
People are encouraged to make their way down to Prospera Place on Sunday to take in the action and to cheer on some street hockey teams.
