In January, Owen Sounders and neighbours joined together to celebrate the game of hockey when Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada shared our rich community story and hockey history from coast to coast to coast.
Being a true hockey community, a number of partners have come together supported by the City of Owen Sound to keep the celebrations going with HockeyFest 2023 planned for Friday, November 17 and Saturday, November 18.
HockeyFest is a partnership between Owen Sound Girls Hockey, local elementary and high schools, and The City of Owen Sound with the support of the University of Waterloo and York Lions who compete with Ontario University Athletics.
The festivities will begin on Friday, November 17 with school visits to both Hillcrest and Keppel Sarawak Elementary schools with players from both The University of Waterloo Warriors and The York University Lions women’s hockey teams. The day will also feature the East versus West High School boys’ and girls’ hockey teams (Owen Sound District Secondary School and St. Mary’s School) as they come face to face at the Bayshore Community Centre. The games are free to attend and will be live-streamed on Rogers TV.
Friday evening will feature several on-ice clinics with the University of Waterloo and York University Women’s teams sharing skills and tips about the game with young players.
If you’re a coach, be sure to sign up for the free coaching clinic and hear from an expert panel moderated by Fred Wallace.
On Saturday the Owen Sound Girls Ice Hawks will take the ice from 8 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. The puck drops at 2 p.m. for the game featuring the University of Waterloo Warriors playing York University Lions.
The games will be held at the Bayshore Community Centre and live-streamed on Rogers TV. Game tickets (https://tickets.attackhockey.com/) are now on sale for $10 with proceeds supporting Owen Sound Girls Hockey. Your game ticket allows you to enjoy all the Saturday games.
Following the games, we hope the community will join us at Holiday Magic featuring the Kiwanis Santa Claus parade, and help kick off the Festival of Northern Lights in the River District.
After the parade, and the Festival lights are turned on, children and youth are invited to join us for a fun night of Organized Road Hockey along 2nd Ave between 8th and 9th Street. Teams of four (ages 8-14) can sign up (http://www.owensound.ca/hockeyfest) and play some old-fashioned road hockey. Players must sign up ahead to participate, wear a CSA-approved hockey helmet, and bring proper footwear, hockey gloves, and clothing to play. The Owen Sound Scotiabank branch will be hosting a warming station with hot chocolate inside the branch.
The complete schedule of events or how you can sign up for clinics, purchase tickets, join ball hockey or volunteer for the event is available at https://www.owensound.ca/en/exploring/hockey-festaspx.aspx
For sponsorship inquiries, contact jeremy.mccoubrey@troylfs.com. For more information, please contact events@owensound.ca
