For the second year in a row, the Athabasca College Hockey Challenge will pit some of the best Canadian teams outside the NHL against each other at the Athabasca Regional Multiplex, Sept. 8-10.
The now-annual tournament shows rural athletes what doors open when pursuing sports in college.
“It’s a huge win for the community,” ACHC committee co-chair Jeff Johnson said. “There’s no event like it in Canada that I know of. And if there were to be an event similar to it, it’s going to be a major urban centre. It’s not going to be in a rural setting like Athabasca.”
The five teams that played last year are coming back for more. The University of Alberta Golden Bears, NAIT Ooks and Augustana Vikings will face off in men’s hockey, and the University of Alberta Pandas and the University of Saskatchewan Huskies will compete in women’s.
“This is the best hockey you can see in Canada outside the NHL,” said Johnson. “So it’s quite a treat to have those folks here.”
Once again, the tournament will feature a coach’s clinic, an education fair, a community dinner and a celebrity “hot-stove.” This year, it’s scheduled to run over one weekend rather than two.
Johnson said beyond providing high-level hockey games, the goal of the tournament is to inspire student athletes to purse sports and education together.
“We want the students that are coming through the building over the weekend to see all those people and think ‘Hey, I can do that,’” he said. “You’re using that thing that that student might have a passion for that they love … to keep their grades up.”
Women’s hockey coach and committee member Erin Francis said interacting with high-level hockey players shows students that futures with sports are achievable.
“It opens the kids eyes to realize that there’s quite a few steps between minor hockey and NHL and they’re reachable. So they work hard, they can attain that next step,” she said.
“They’re 18-23 years old, these girls, and our peewee girls, bantam girls can relate to that already. Because they’re not that far off from thinking about careers at college or university.”
This year, the Huskies have invited the local women’s hockey team to join them in the rink and for an off-ice session.
Francis said these sessions benefit her as well as her team.
“Just being on ice with them, the way they talk to the girls and break into groups and do these little sessions – it’s just really nice for me to watch and just get some ideas too for my coaching,” she said.
The education fair is almost double last year’s size. According to Francis, at least 14 post-secondary institutions confirmed their participation before publication day.
Local students will be given free tickets and bussed to the education fair, where they can learn about what schools offer in terms of sports programs and scholarships.
The volunteers will also hang posters around the Multiplex profiling local athletes who pursued sports through their education.
Francis said last year, she and her family billeted some of the women’s hockey players.
“It was just kind of neat for my husband and I, but as well as our kids were just in awe of these girls,” she said.
Both women’s teams have elected to billet with families this year.
There will be a coach’s clinic Sept. 9 from 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at the Multiplex.
NAIT Ooks head coach Tim Fragle will show people how he coaches his team and then sit down with parents and coaches for a question and answer period.
Fragle played for the Trail Smoke Eaters and the NAIT Ooks and has coached the Sherwood Park Crusaders.
Local hockey coach Curtis Creaser said Fragle will cover topics like coach-player relations and the opportunities that education and athletics give to students.
Creaser said that although it is naturally hockey-based, any parent or coach can attend.
“We want to open it up to basically any adult that’s got influence on young athletes or have questions about post-secondary athletics,” he said. “It will be mostly hockey-based due to the fact that he is a hockey coach, but it’s going to be relational in the sense that we’re going to be discussing how to deal with athletes and the different challenges there is out there for student athletes.”
Creaser also headed up the clinic last year and said this year it will be more interactive.
As a coach, Creaser said he learned “a ton of things.”
“We learned lots about just how to relate to young athletes,” he said. “How to prepare yourself, when you’re going to be leading a team, the importance of the influence that coaches have on young athletes not only when they’re coaching but years to come when you see them in the community.”
Game tickets are available on eventbrite.ca for $10 each.
