Yorkton Minor Hockey (YMH) hosted a 16 team Initiation Program (IP) hockey tournament at both the Kinsmen Arena and the Farrell Agencies Arena over the weekend.
IP director for Yorkton Minor Hockey, Ryan Hoffman, says the weekend went very well overall.
In addition to the out of town teams, four Yorkton teams took part in the tournament, including the Tim Horton's Terriers, Tim Horton's Ice Cap Terriers, Tim Horton's Fritters Terriers and the eventual tournament B-side winners, the Tim Horton's Double Doubles.
"The kids had a good time. Coaches had a good time. Refs had a good time. There were lots of positive comments from parents, both from Yorkton and the out-of-town parents," Hoffman states.
A tournament in Melville followed by a parents' game will wrap up the YMH IP season, Hoffman says.
The Initiation program primarily involves five and six year-old players with a few four year youngsters in the mix, Hoffman reports. There were 48 youngster in the program this year. This is the first level where the young players begin to learn the game.
The first two and a half months of the program is almost power skating. Then the team are selected and practise for another month. By Christmas time the youngsters have one practise a week and play one game per week. After Christmas each team enters a couple of tournaments, Hoffman explains.
The most amazing thing about the young hockey stars at the IP level is how much they improve from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. "By the time you get to the end of December, you can't believe it's the same group of kids that started in September," Hoffman claims.
There is an outstanding group of coaches this year. There are new, guys with hockey backgrounds and their hearts in the right place who have done a good job of bringing these kids along this year, Hoffman states.
The title sponsor for the IP tournament, Farrell Agencies, provided some very nice trophies for the young players.
In addition to thanking Farrell Agencies, Hoffman expressed his appreciation for the tournament volunteer working committee. They put in a lot of time into organizing and running the event.
The Prairie Storm Initiation Lightning beat Dauphin to win the A side to claim the tournament championship.
The Tim Horton's Double Doubles emerged as B-side champs over the Tim Horton's Ice Caps. Coach Tyrel MacLean says, "We played very well this weekend. The kids had fun and that's what's important."
Preeceville won the C-side over Moosomin White.
The Yorkton Fritters claimed the D-title over runners-up Yorkton Tim Horton's.
