LAKELAND - Fourteen minor hockey teams from across the Lakeland will be joined by 26 others from as far away as Fort McMurray, Ponoka, Lloydminster and Meadow Lake as they take to the ice in Cold Lake, Bonnyville and Elk Point in the fifth Ronald McDonald House Winterland Invitational tournament.
The Winterland tournaments started in 2018 with 24 teams and have grown to the point that this year they had 120 teams apply to be part of the signature event.
The weekend’s first games start at noon on Friday at the A. G. Ross Arena in Elk Point for U9 teams, and at the Bonnyville and District Centennial Centre and the Cold Lake Energy Centre for the U11 and U13 teams.
The U9 games will wind up Saturday afternoon and the U11 and U13 games early Sunday afternoon, with fans welcome to come and cheer on the teams throughout the weekend.
“We are so excited to welcome the hockey players and are expecting a ton of support for RMHC Alberta through this wonderful event,” says Oreen Skiba, manager of events at Ronald McDonald House Charity (RMHC). “The Winterland Invitational is an important part of our fundraising initiatives across the province. The teams fundraise together, the parents and fans participate in raffles and a 50/50 and the overall awareness creates important donations from RMHC Alberta.”
There are now four Ronald McDonald Houses in Alberta, located in Edmonton, Red Deer, Calgary and Medicine Hat, and Skiba says that with RMHC Alberta serving over 1,200 families from across the province annually, “Among the teams, we always hear about how their family or a family friend stayed at a Ronald McDonald House.”
Those Houses provide families with a place to stay near their children who need pediatric care, and also provide them with shuttle trips to the hospitals. Enabling families to stay together close to those hospitals has proved to both improve the experience for the children receiving care and the wellbeing of the family, by reducing stress, the sense of isolation and the financial burden.
The Winterland Invitational tournaments have not only proved to be an important fundraising event for RMHC Alberta, but also for the host communities, according to Bonnyville & District Chamber of Commerce executive director Serina Parsons. “It is an economic driver for our region and provides a boost for many local businesses. Of course we love when out arenas are full and the spirit of hockey takes over, but we also love busy restaurants, full hotels and related businesses.”
