One of Barrie’s biggest sporting events has come to a close and Barrie Women’s Hockey Association (BWHA) officials say they are very happy with the results both on and off the ice.
Barrie’s Sharkfest took place in seven arenas around the region and saw over 130 teams vying for the top spot in the weekend-long event.
Tournament convenor Ted Dean, who is also the chair of the Ontario Women's Hockey Association, said he believes the 2018 tournament was one of the best he’s seen.
“This was a great tournament and we had 137 teams from across the province from our novices right up to our senior teams, which gave us a great range of players all around," Dean said. "This is a very taxing weekend-long event on everyone who helps put this together really gives it their all.
"I’ve been with the Barrie Sharks for 20 years and Sharkfest has gone from maybe 17 teams to when I first started to what we are at now, so this organization and women’s hockey is thriving," he added.
While the final medal haul had yet to be tallied Sunday night, the Sharks bantam 'A' squad won the bronze medal in a shootout thriller over the Chatham Outlaws, Sunday afternoon.
Many other Sharks squads left with hardware, too, including the midget 'A' Sharks, who won gold in their division.
Another team that did well at the tournament was the much-travelled Napanee Crunch peewee 'BB' team.
Mark Ford is the head coach of the Crunch, who went a perfect 6-0 to claim the championship at that level, defeating South Huron on Sunday afternoon.
Ford told BarrieToday the weather made it about a three- to four-hour drive to Barrie, but should be much better heading back now that they’ve got lots of memories to share along the way.
“We stayed at Carriage Hills resort and the condos have been awesome,” Ford said. “The BWHA does a great job in helping us out in finding accommodations, by giving us a list of what’s around and that makes it easier. And then being in town and having team breakfasts, it is just a really nice city.
"The tournament is well-run and the Sharks consistently put on a great event, which is why it has been running for so long," he added.
The hockey moms and dads were, of course, out in full force and were always visible with coffee in hand.
Angela McGrath’s 14-year-old daughter plays for the Ottawa Valley Thunder bantam squad and the mom has made the trip out to Barrie for almost a decade. And she says she loves everything about it.
“This is probably the eighth time I’ve been here for this tournament, as we have a lot of children and every year it gets better and better,” McGrath said. “The key to tournaments like this, when you do have lots of kids playing the sport, is to make the most of it and value the time you have with the child or children you’re with that weekend while the others are at home.
"It's all about balance.”
Barrie city councillor Mike McCann recently helped push for a sports committee that could help oversee the big events in the city, which would in turn help direct not just the tourism dollars into the community more, but make the long drive worth it to those looking for family time, too.
“Sharkfest is a great example of how a sports committee can help the endless amount of sports games and tournaments that come to our city every week and month,” McCann said.
“This hockey tournament takes place in and around the downtown Santa Claus parade and how cool would it have been to help inform most teams that the parade was happening and they could experience it together and pump tourism money into our downtown," he added. "It's just that little bit that helps and I’d love to do that, we are a sports town and Sharkfest shows that every year.”
