Street Hockey Tournament
When: Back to Calendar Saturday, 25 January 2014 (all-day)
Where: ARC
Cayman International School
95 Minerva Drive
Cayman Islands
Contact: Aaron Knapik
323-0898
The Cayman Islands Youth Roller Hockey League is hosting the fourth annual street hockey tournament on Saturday, January 25th. The popular 4 on 4 tournament is taking place beside the ARC at Cayman International School again and registration is still open for those that are wanting to submit a team. This tournament is designed to help grow the sport of youth roller hockey in the Cayman Islands but more importantly raise funds for Feed our Future – this year’s chosen charity.
This year, fifty percent of the proceeds raised will be donated directly to Feed our Future Cayman, whose mission is to feed children in need with school meals. The other fifty percent will be injected back into youth hockey with the hopes of further developing the programme and getting more and more kids participating in the sport.
“Having only recently joined King’s Sports Centre as the Sports Programme Director, I am thrilled to be a part of such a worthwhile and exciting event. I’ve heard a lot about this tournament and I’m looking forward to being a part of it. It’s my goal to get more young kids in Cayman involved in hockey but to do so whilst helping out such a worthwhile charity is a win-win situation. I look forward to seeing all the youngsters out there with their sticks and hope that the love of the hockey is passed on throughout the community.” Evan Ellbogen, Sports Programme Director, Kings Sports Centre.
Aaron Knapik, one of the volunteer tournament organisers is grateful for the support the event continues to receive year after year. “Once again we are very pleased that the community continues to rally behind this event and our efforts to raise funds for such a worthwhile benefactor – Feed Our Future. We are thankful for the support of our main sponsors Camana Bay, Ernst & Young and the Dart Foundation. We also wish to thank our junior sponsors Greenlight RE, Willis Management (Cayman) and Island Supply. Most of all we wish to thank the kids, for coming out and experiencing a fun day of hockey whilst raising funds for other kids who due to circumstances, maybe go to school hungry.” Additionally this year we are thankful for the support and organizational assistance of the new Hockey Programme Director at King’s, Evan Ellbogen.
“On behalf of the board of Feed Our Future we are delighted that this year’s street hockey tournament has selected our charity to be the recipient of the funds raised. Unfortunately, hunger is prevalent in a lot of our schools right here in the Cayman Islands and Feed Our Future is doing everything we can to eradicate this. The funds raised through the efforts of the Cayman Islands Youth Roller Hockey League and this tournament will provide hundreds of lunches for Cayman kids and for this we are grateful,” Stacey VanDeVelde, Chairwoman, Feed our Future.
With the majority of players gaining their hockey experience from Kings Youth Roller Hockey League, one component of the tournament is to have one member of the team not be in the league. This caveat is to help introduce kids to a new sport and help grow the hockey programme in Cayman. Roller Hockey is a relatively new sport to Cayman that’s caught on quickly. There were 150 participants in the Street Hockey tournament last year and we expect to have even more players and Mom’s registered for this year’s event. In addition to age divisions covering 6U, 8U, 10U, 14U there is even a category for all those Hockey Mom’s out there (or those just looking for some great exercise and an exciting sport).
Street hockey, played in running shoes, requires minimal equipment and in most cases can be done with a plastic hockey stick making street hockey an inexpensive activity that can be done in drive ways after school or on weekends.
The last three years the tournament has raised over $25,000 for local charities, including Cayman Hospice, UNICEF Cayman Kids and the Cayman Cancer Society. The CI Youth Roller Hockey Club expects to raise more funds this year through additional sponsorship and increased registrants.
Registration is still open and all those that are wishing to participate are encouraged to contact Niki Hastings at [email protected]. You don’t have to currently be enrolled in a hockey programme to participate, all you need is a team of four, sneakers and hockey sticks (there will also be sticks provided on the day of for those that need them). The tournament also remains a fun spectator event for those not playing and the organizers encourage all those who need a little hockey fix or enjoy watching a great sport to come down to the ARC (the road in front of CIS’s athletic facilities) Saturday, January 25th. The tournament should start around 9am and will last for most of the day. For more tournament information or if you’d like to volunteer or become a sponsor please contact Aaron Knapik at: [email protected] or call 345-323-0898.
