Rimbey has been selected as one of the communities to host the 2016 Hockey Alberta Provincial Championships.
The Rimbey Renegade Canalta Peewee hockey team will host the Peewee C tournament to be held March 10 to 13.
“The host committee is planning a memorable weekend for our players, families and community,” said Maria Tisdale from the minor hockey association. “Eight teams, from seven different zones within Alberta will play during the weekend, which means a lot of extra people visiting our little town. We rely on the support of our wonderful community to help make an event like this possible.”
Tisdale said the committee will organize fundraisers and arrange for volunteers and special events in the months leading up to the tournament.
The committee’s first fundraiser will be a bottle drive on Jan. 2. Players, families and friends will collect bottles around town and anyone who will be away at that time or live out of town may contact Pam Burchnall at 403-0505-4688 to arrange for pickup.
The majority of teams competing in minor provincial championship tournaments qualify by winning a zone playdown. These start in mid-January and include up to 1,000 teams vying for the right to represent their zone at the provincial championships.
Host teams receive an automatic berth in the championship they are hosting, although they do participate in zone playdowns and have the opportunity to win their zone title.
This year Hockey Alberta Provincial Championships will be sponsored by ATB Financial and hockey fans will have the chance to watch their favourite team go for a 2016 provincial championship.
Tournaments will be hosted in communities across Alberta going as far north as High Level to Taber in the south, Provost in the east and Grande Prairie in the west.
“Playing in the provincials is every young hockey player’s goal at the start of each season,’ said John Windwick, ATBs vice president, community initiatives. “We can’t wait to see the smiles on the players’ faces when they arrive at the championship tournaments across the province. We’ll definitely do our part to make sure it’s a special experience for everyone involved,including the parents, officials and volunteers who make these events possible.”