Photo supplied.
Players from different centres receive instruction about the rules of the summer hockey tournament.
Since the ice returned to the CMCC in mid-July, it has attracted a line-up of hockey schools and training camps for aspiring hockey players with bookings all day, all week. The CMCC was also the location of a one-day hockey tournament for youngsters organized by Rob Carleton, President of On The Pond! Canada.
Rob Carleton has been running summer hockey tournaments in the Peterborough area for several years. Tournaments are one day affairs, where players are allocated by age into teams with names like Beach Bums, Seadoos, Sandcastles and Flip Flops, ensuring no one takes the competition too seriously. Teams are co-ed and skill levels are mixed. Most of the time players do not know their team mates but they all share a love of hockey. The objective is provide a fun event for young players that also helps them keep their hockey skills fresh during the off-season, and includes a shoot-out between games. The winning teams even get their photos taken with a Silver Summer Cup trophy which they parade around the ice in celebration.
With junior and university hockey in his background, Rob started running PA Day Cup tournaments after COVID was over. On The Pond tournaments are unique as it is the individuals and not a team that register. Organizers make all the teams as even as possible based on skill level. The events have been a huge hit because no one is left out based on their skill level. During the play, coaches match up lines based on player skill levels to have players playing against others with the same skill levels.
On The Pond! Canada organizes many tournaments throughout the year, but the largest one is called the North American Cup. Launched in 2007, it takes place in Gravenhurst on 25 rinks created on Lake Muskoka. More than one hundred teams from across North American participate in this three-day round robin tournament that Rob describes as taking hockey back to where it was born…”on the pond.”
The next junior tournament is scheduled for August 18th at the CMCC. Players born in 2010 to 2015 are eligible to play. Registration costs $75. For more information, email info@onthepondcanada.com or call Rob Carleton at 705-313-6702. KG