It was a truly Canadian hockey tournament on the outdoor ice in Castleton on February 18, 2019.
Over 30-teams came out to vie for the Castleton Cup which was held at the non-profit, volunteer-run Castleton Sports Club.
It was a beautiful Canadian winter’s day with a light snow falling for most of the early games played on Family Day in the community of approximately 300.
Just before dropping the puck for the official opening, Cramahe Township Mayor Mandy Martin told Today’s Northumberland, “it’s a powerful community event that reaches far beyond our municipal boundaries.”
Teams from across Northumberland County and beyond including Bancroft, Napanee and Tweed came out to enjoy the day playing pond hockey.
“It’s quintessentially Canadian and it’s just fabulous.”
Volunteers ran the entire tournament using a ice resurfacer after every game, keeping time of each game and keeping the fire going by the rink.
With his team wearing Boston Bruins jerseys Lucas Cole said, “it’s cold, and the ice is good,” said as he sat on the bench waiting for his next shift against his opponents wearing Toronto Maple Leaf jerseys.
It’s the first time Cole has played in a pond hockey tournament and he loved it.
“We all played pond hockey as a kid so its kind of nice to do it as an adult-ish.”
Co-organizer Jeff Turney said there were over 90 matches during the day. He arrived at 6 a.m. and was still there as the last game wrapped up just before 9 p.m.
“It’s a beautiful day,” said co-organizer Jeff Turney.
“It’s nice to see the kids out and that’s all I could ever hope for.”
“It’s truly a fun tournament.”
In fact, they don’t even keep score of the games and that’s just the way Turney wants it – pure Canadian fun.
Everyone got their pictures with the cup made from a salad bowl, pint, quart and gallon paint cans along with a two gallon pail and a 30 litre grease keg.
So for who won the prestigious Castleton Cup this year?
Everyone who played.
With the help of all the teams approximately $5,000 raised with all the money going back into the Castleton Sports Club.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
