Bantam Memorial Tournament Feb. 13-16, 2014

The Pictou County Hockey Minor Hockey Association is hosting the 30th Annual Bantam Memorial Tournament, which is being held from Feb. 13-16.

XEROX is the presenting sponsor, with the Pictou County Wonder Auto Bantam AA Crushers representing the host organization with the support of the Scotsburn Major Bantam Crushers team. This year the tournament includes twelve bantam AA teams and twelve major bantam teams. The tournament schedule is available on the PCMHA website at http://pcmha.com/page.php?page_id=28872. Members of the community and families and friends of players in the rep division of PCMHA volunteer in every aspect of the tournament.

The Bantam Memorial Tournament is held each year in memory of three young hockey players: Donald Gladwin, John Allan MacDonald, and Shawn MacKay and Shawn's mother, Lee Marie MacKay whose lives were tragically lost in a motor vehicle accident while returning home from a game in February 1984. In 1985, the first Bantam Memorial Tournament was organized to honor their memory.

Play starts on Thursday afternoon when the Pictou County Wonder Auto Bantam AA Crushers face of against Dartmouth at 3:30 p.m. and the Scotsburn Major Bantam Crushers play Nova Junior X-Men at 5:15 p.m. at the Wellness Centre. The opening ceremonies will take place at the Wellness Centre Friday at 6:15 p.m. with the Pictou County Wonder Auto Bantam AA Crushers team playing Yarmouth at 4 p.m. before the ceremony and the Scotsburn Major Bantam Crushers playing Kings Mutual immediately following the opening ceremony.

On Saturday, at the Wellness Centre, the Pictou County Wonder Auto Bantam AA Crushers play CB County at 2:30 p.m. and the Scotsburn Major Bantam Crushers face off against Western Valley at 4 p.m.

The public is encouraged to support this event and enjoy the hockey. Tournament passes are $15 and daily passes are $5. There is no charge for students. 

While this tournament honors the memory of those who passed away, it’s also a major fundraiser for Pictou County Minor Hockey Association. All the proceeds of the tournament go directly back to PCMHA, which helps keep the yearly costs for hockey as low as possible.