Fernie hosted an Atom B tournament this past weekend. There were seven teams who participated including the Fernie Junior Ghostriders, Lethbridge Gators, Elk Valley Wild, Midnapore Mavericks, Airdrie Ninjas, Lake Bonavista Breakers and Bow Valley Atoms.
The final game, which decided who would walk away the A champs, was close. The Lake Bonavista Breakers edging out Bow Valley, for a final score of 4-3.
The Jr. Ghostriders tied for fifth overall with the Elk Valley Wild.
This year’s tournament was slightly altered, as the organizers decided to hold two separate Atom tournaments rather than the usual single tournament. The response to the decision to divide was positive.
“Usually the Atoms tournament is together but seeing as their is two different Atom teams this year, we decided to have two tournaments and the response for teams to travel to Fernie has been overwhelming, so many teams want to come play hockey in Fernie,” said Vanessa Stamler, one of the Fernie Atom’s team managers.
This is the first year that Stamler and Cherie Adamschek have taken on the role of team managers and their second year volunteering for the fundraising and organizing the raffle table. Fernie’s businesses and community helped to make this years raffle table one of the tournaments biggest draws.
“The community support from businesses is humbling in Fernie, people here are so generous for events like this. The raffle table was a huge success and we are pleased with the response from everyone who attended this weekend. We received so many compliments on the beautiful baskets at the raffle table,” said Stamler. “We had more than 29 sponsors for our tournament that does not include all the Atom B parents that contributed and volunteered their time over the weekend. Some of the hot items at our raffle table included the Play Station 4, NHL tickets donated from Teck, the beanbag chair, and the Loonie sticks.”
Stamler’s goal was to make sure the kids had a great time. From the responses of teams, parents, and players the goal was reached.
“Cherie and I are proud of how the kids conducted themselves on and off the ice this past weekend. The referees did an awesome job and there were minimal problems throughout the weekend,” said Stamler. “From the bottom of our hearts, thank you to everyone who donated or supported our team on the weekend, your generosity is appreciated.”