Thousands of people have gathered on Chestermere Lake this weekend to play hockey and support a local charity.
The Tim Hortons Western Canada Pond Hockey Championship is in full swing for its second year.
Players ranging from four years old to their mid-60s and of all skill levels braved the negative temperatures to play in the tournament.
This year’s charity of choice is the Chestermere Food Bank.
“Our biggest goal this year is to raise, obviously, funds and food for the food bank, so our goal is to raise 3,000 to 5,000 pounds of food,” said Alex Halat, chairperson of the event.
In 2018, the event attracted 40-50 teams. Halat said 102 teams originally signed up for the 2019 tournament, but for logistical reasons, organizers had to cut that number to 85.
They also chose to add ringette into the mix this year with 19 teams.
The community-based event is informal, meant to be a place to bring people together for a good cause.
“It’s a pretty high energy event, so I think everyone’s just really excited to be here,” said Meghan Mikkelson, two-time Olympic gold medalist with Team Canada. “It’s Canadian, being on the outdoor rink, so having this massive event is basically like hockey heaven.”
Halat is already looking ahead to next year’s event and considering adding two more ice sports.
“I know this event is only half done but we’re already looking at bringing in curling next year, potentially a fishing derby as well,” said Halat. “We have almost 10 kilometres of the lake to work with so it’s kind of unique — it’s not limiting us as to what we can do. We’ll just continue to grow from there.”
Halat asks anyone who attends the event to bring a non-perishable food item to donate. The event is free to everyone and includes free Tim Hortons.
The tournament runs Dec. 27-29.