As minor hockey seasons come to a close, Kingston’s Invista Centre continues to be one of the busiest places in town.
Its four rinks are booked solid for this year’s U14 francophone elementary school hockey tournament.
“It’s one of the only opportunities for kids, especially from the Kingston area, and Trenton, where they get to play against teams that are francophone. It’s something important, not just sports, but culture-wise as well,” tournament organizer Jonathan McDonald said.
More than 450 students from across eastern and southern Ontario are taking part in this year’s tournament, with representation from nearly a dozen minor hockey associations. But there are also players hitting the ice for the first time as part of a team.
“My daughter, who does not play hockey at all, she went on the ice a few times with us at our hockey academy. She’s playing in the tournament and she really loves it,” McDonald said.
And there is plenty of action to take in, like an unbelievable goal from Casselman Dynamos forward Angelie Vallee who, in her mother tongue, said she’s never scored in such a way.
“It was the first time I scored a goal from my knees, so it was pretty cool,” the Grade 8 student said.
The only local squad taking part in the tournament is the defending double-A champs from Marie-Rivier.
“It’s pretty enjoyable, we have fun talking off the ice and on the ice. So it’s a fun experience for all of us and we’re going to keep going hard,” Samuel Jacques said.
“It’s very fun. I like to get some ice time even though I don’t have anything else. This is really good ice time for me to practise my hockey skills,” Jasper Stotz said.
In addition to the hockey, on- and off-ice skills competitions pitted the tournament’s best players against one another.
The tournament wraps up Thursday.