Female Hockey Classic returns to Okotoks

One of the largest female hockey tournaments in the province is back in Okotoks.

The 14thannual Okotoks Female Hockey Classic takes to the ice this week with 50 teams in 11 divisions ranging from U9 to U18 and the introduction of two Rocky Mountain Raiders teams to the competition, held Nov. 11-14.

“We’re super excited to be hosting again,” said tournament organizer Jennifer Dustow. “It’s a wonderful showcase of the community, but to be able to see these girls playing and back in these arenas is extra exciting considering we’ve had a year off due to COVID.

“It’s wonderful.”

Okotoks has teams in every division with a total of 14 Oilers and Raiders squads stepping onto the ice.

The 2021 event will mark the debut of the Rocky Mountain Raiders 15U Elite and 13U A squads, the latter a new team created this season under the Okotoks Oilers Athletic Association umbrella.

Involving Raiders teams has been in the works for a couple of years, Dustow said.

“We had tried to do that a couple of years ago pre-COVID and it just didn’t get off the ground because of scheduling conflicts within those leagues,” Dustow said. “So we weren’t able to make that happen, but it is something that’s been in the works behind the scenes for a few years.”

Dustow said having the Raiders teams showcased will help to illustrate the elite program available to female hockey players in the Okotoks and Foothills region.

“For U15AA and the U13 program, which is new this year, and our U18 AA program, it’s more neighbouring communities in the south that have access to those teams,” Dustow said. “I find that a lot of our Okotoks girls don’t even realize until they get to about Bantam, that there is this opportunity for them in this community.

“So it’s important to encompass (the Raiders) into our tournament and show our younger girls at U7, U9, U11, U13 that there is that opportunity right here in Okotoks if they aspire to play at that level.”           

The November competition has been a staple in the hockey community for 12 years running prior to last year’s event not getting off the ground as the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic was taking hold.

Dustow said it was about mid-October that she was confident the 2021 version of the Classic was going to go ahead.

“Behind the scenes I was always hopeful, optimistically planning in the background, but realized realistically that there could be an impact,” Dustow said. “It was probably mid-October that I realized it didn’t look like we were moving back towards another shutdown and that we were going to be able to continue and that’s when things got really exciting for us.

“Our teams were formed, we’re starting to see them playing tiering games, leagues are being optimistic, Hockey Alberta was showing optimism and I felt at that point we were going to have the green light to go ahead.”

Though some out of province teams had trepidation about committing, there was a lot of interest especially early on in the process from prospective teams about registering for the Classic, Dustow added.

Organizers anticipate upwards of 800 athletes and 2000 people coming to the community for the four-day competition.

Games will be played at the Pason Centennial Arenas and at the Piper and Murray arenas within the Okotoks Recreation Centre.

For more information on the tournament go to okotoksfemalehockey.com