Casey Richardson
97 teams from Victoria to Winnipeg are in Penticton for two weeks as part of the Canadian Sport School Hockey League Western Championships.
From March 4-17, the city will host well over 150 games, crowning champions in all six western divisions of the CSSHL and featuring student-athletes ages 13 to 18.
Kevin Goodwin, the CSSHL’s chief operating officer, said they saw tremendous growth across the league last season, adding five new programs in the East.
“Speaking about Western Canada, we added about 12 more teams this year, which was great and increased our games in Penticton by 20 this season,” he added.
This event marks the first year of a 10-year agreement signed between the CSSHL and its partners, including Okanagan Hockey Group, OVG360, Travel Penticton and the City of Penticton.
“These events in Penticton bring excitement to the city and that’s what our programs love about them,” Goodwin added.
The event offers young players the opportunity to showcase their talent.
“You see the players as they develop as youngsters and then you can say you saw them when they were 15 and they were great then,” Goodwin said.
“This year you’re going to see a lot of WHL draft picks in the mix. We have three locals from the South Okanagan.”
“For the girls, we have five women who were on the U-18 world team in January and won the gold medal there.”
This includes Chloe Primerano, the first woman ever selected as a draft pick in the Western Hockey League.
“So this is basically where you’ll see the future of the game.”
The City of Penticton said the annual economic impact of each event is estimated to be more than $3.3 million, totaling nearly $40 million over the life of the contract.
“In total, we will have 2,200 student-athletes and staff alone. And then we are expecting over 4,000 people. So it’s over 6,000 people that should be rolling through the city, which is fantastic for the community,” Goodwin added.
Teams from BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Idaho and Washington will compete all next week at the South Okanagan Events Center Complex.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.valleyfirsttix.com or in person at the Valley First Box Office at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
Photo: CSSHL file photo
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