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Williams Lake plays host to successful U18 Female BC Hockey Championships

Hundreds of volunteer hours were needed to put on the event

It wasn’t the result the Timberwolves were looking for, nevertheless the BC Hockey U18 Female Championships held in Williams Lake March 23 to 26 were by all accounts a resounding success.

Over the four days, more than 200 female hockey athletes gathered in the lakecity as nine teams representing Vancouver, Okanagan Central, Prince George, North West, Greater Trail, Capital Region (Victoria), Williams Lake, North East and Surrey vied for top spot in the province.

Williams Lake hosted a banquet for players and coaches Wednesday evening, as well as opening ceremonies Thursday evening which included an opening prayer and land acknowledgment by WLFN’s David Archie, who also spoke to the power of women before a group performance of the Women’s Warrior Song.

Competition kicked off Thursday morning with the Williams Lake Timberwolves losing their first match to Surrey before winning against Victoria team Thursday night before a packed crowd at Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex. Friday night the home team tied North East, and Saturday evening the team lost in a 2-3 battle against Greater Trail, in a heartbreaking elimination round.

In the end Greater Trail Wildcats captured gold, Capital Region Victoria Reign took home silver and Vancouver won bronze.

With many volunteers putting in four, 16-hour days, championship committee chair Mike Rispin said the event went off without a hitch.

“I’ve received compliments and comments from teams, players and parents with words like awesome, fantastic, flawless and most memorable ever,” Rispin told the Tribune.

“This is the result of an excellent team on the organizing committee as well as community support. We had 270 volunteer positions filled by parents of the team and 33 other volunteers - a truly amazing thing to see … I couldn’t be happier with the event overall, we as a city and an association showed up as second-to-none and set the bar for other organizing committees.”

U18 Female Timberwolves coach Lindsey Wood said he was thankful to everyone who played a part in the success of the championships, noting the organizing committee did a great job and received many kudos from all the teams and spectators who attended.

He also commended the efforts of his team.

“The Williams Lake T-Wolves played some great hockey and all the fans that attended got to see the talented players we have locally. The games were very fast, highly skilled and some highlight-reel goals and saves. The near-capacity crowds were great support for our team and the players really enjoyed the hometown atmosphere,” said Wood.

“Although our team played great, we were in a very tough pool that made every game really tight and due to this we did not make the playoff round. It was really unfortunate because our team deserved to be in the playoff round and were very disappointed the way it worked out.”

Wood said the U18F Timberwolves will be returning next year and he anticipates another great year.

READ MORE: Williams Lake speed skater breaks his best times at provincials

https://www.wltribune.com/sports/williams-lake-speed-skater-breaks-his-best-times-at-provincials/



Angie Mindus

About the Author: Angie Mindus

A desire to travel led me to a full-time photographer position at the Williams Lake Tribune in B.C.’s interior.
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