After a quiet season last winter, hockey tournaments are back at the Birch Hills Skating Rink. (Submitted Photo/Town of Birch Hills)

By Rob Mahon

Hockey Tournaments Return

Return of tournaments, events, big boost for town of Birch Hills

Mar 10, 2022 | 12:00 PM

The gradual reduction of COVID-19 restrictions in Saskatchewan this winter, and what appears to be the end of them over the last month, has helped breathe some life into local hockey tournaments. And those in turn are breathing some life into the towns that host them.

Birch Hills is hosting their annual Goosers tournament this Saturday, so named for the recreational hockey team that hosts it. The tournament couldn’t go ahead last year due to the pandemic, but this year it’s one of several events the town has been able to host.

“There was the Gord Bamford concert we had here in December, that was well attended,” said Zac Pitzel, recreation director for the Town of Birch Hills. “It’s nice to get these events going again because I think people want to be doing stuff.”

Last year, the town couldn’t open their curling rink or hold anything other than limited training sessions for under-18 skaters due to the pandemic. This year, they’ve hosted some youth hockey tournaments already with the men’s hockey event putting a bow on a much busier season.

“In previous years, the restaurants definitely got a boost in the morning on Saturday with people coming for breakfast,” Pitzel said. “There are six teams this year. Even if there’s ten players on each team, that’s 60 more people in town that are going to be in town and around doing some shopping, or even just coming and looking at stuff.”

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For a town with just over 1,000 people, an infusion of at least 60 more people, all of whom will be working up an appetite, is good news for the local eateries. The canteen also gets a big boost, according to Pitzel, from an all-day tournament. The six teams involved will start playing early in the morning with games running well into the evening.

As spring transitions to summer, they’ve got more to look forward to. Last season, the town set records at their golf course, which broke records they set the previous year during COVID. Slightly more relaxed restrictions on summer sports have seen them grow in popularity.

“We hired more staff to be able to disinfect and keep things clean and stuff like that,” said Pitzel. “We started a senior bowl league last year and we had great turnouts for that.”

Pitzel added they’re hoping to break another record at the golf course this season and are offering half-priced memberships to new members to try and push the number of new members higher again.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP