The final figures and observations were delivered last night in Kincardine for the first ever CIS-Great Lakes Challenge, a 4 university women’s hockey tournament staged at the Davidson Centre last weekend.
The University of Lethbridge Pronghorns went 3 & 0 to claim the title in the round robin tournament where everybody played everybody once head to head.
The interesting part was the other 3 schools, Guelph, York & the University of Regina Cougars all went 1 & 2, exhibiting how tight the competition was.
From the outside, looking at both the competitive results and the concept, this is appears to be a major success.
The 6 tournament games were sandwiched by a variety of girls minor hockey games, which gave the competing teams more fan exposure and gave the younger players a chance to participate and showcase girls hockey in the region.
In brief conversation with the organizers, it looks as if the format could expand, or interest has been expressed by other women’s hockey programs at Canadian Universities regarding participating in future tournaments at the Davidson Centre.
Every time I look at this event, I see a blueprint for success; a community and hockey interest group combining forces to think outside the box and create what could be a long lasting women’s hockey event in Kincardine.
I’m Fred Wallace