It’s an exciting year for Revelstoke Minor Hockey’s Bantam Grizzlies.
The team’s 11 local athletes are all veteran players except one rookie who graduated from PeeWee, so the group is expected to be quite strong in their 12-team division.
So far this group of 13- and 14-year-old kids has won both pre-season games and all four league games.
The coaching staff and players are hopeful they can carry this momentum throughout the season until March 19, when teams from across the province will converge in Revelstoke.
With only 11 local athletes, the team had to be boosted with two players from Nakusp and four players from Golden. There was an incredible amount of work done throughout the summer by coaching staff and local parents to help make the team happen, because it is not possible to play rep hockey with only 11 kids.
The team practices in Golden every second Thursday to help reduce driving for those visiting players. The team is classified as Tier 4, but got promoted to Tier 3 because there were only four T4 teams in the Okanagan region.
“It’s an exciting season because we’ve coached most these kids since they were six years old,” said head coach Steve Bull.“Now we’ll get to see them show their skills at provincials, right here in Revelstoke.”
Other season highlights include the home tournament from Nov. 18 to 20, where teams from as far as Fernie and Calgary will be attending.
Upcoming home games will be on Saturday, Nov.12, 1:30 p.m., vs. Kamloops, and Dec. 3 and 4, 11:20 a.m., vs. Clearwater.
If any local businesses are interested in sponsoring the provincials in March 2017, or the home tournament in November2016, please email Steve Bull at styletrend@telus.net. Having seven teams visiting for almost a week in March is expected to be a substantial boost for the local economy. So far, Revelstoke Mountain Resort is sponsoring the banquet venue at the mid-mountain lodge, and discounted rates for visiting teams are being provided by several local hotels.
The team greatly appreciates such a strong showing of support from the local community.
Submitted by Rob Serrouya