Calling The Tourney Again

With the colder weather moving back into the province, it's starting to feel more like winter than it has at any point prior to this week. The cold does mean that more rinks will be in service in the coming days as everyone scrambles to flood outdoor ice as soon as they can, but it also means we're closer to the biggest annual girls' hockey tournament taking place in Manitoba once again! The 2024 Female World Sports School Challenge is coming back to the Hockey For All Centre in west Winnipeg from January 25-28, and sixteen of the best teams from across Canada will be competing for the gold medals once again!

This tournament is always a highlight on my calendar, and I feel extremely humbled and privileged that St. Mary's Academy continues to ask us to come back to broadcast the action through UMFM's Second Stream. It's a glimpse into the future with the number of players who are heading to play university and college hockey, and we're always treated to incredible hockey while meeting these phenomenal athletes and coaches. Working with the tireless volunteers and staff from St. Mary's and the Hockey For All Centre is always a treat for me as well as they bring unparalleled professionalism, effort, and fun!

In saying that, UMFM will be back for the four days of games this year again, and we are going to be stationed in the PCL Arena so we can call all of the big games on the schedule! If you're asking, here are the games we'll be calling in case you want to tune in and hear your favorite team playing in the event! Click to enlarge the image!

While we won't see every team, we will call at least one game for 12 of the 16 teams at the event. Of course, the consolation and medal rounds means we could see at least a few more teams, so you'll have to tune in to see how Saturday and Sunday stack up after the pool play round. Needless to say, we're excited to see future university stars playing from January 25-28 at the Hockey For All Centre!

If you're coming to the tournament to cheer on your favorite team, the cost of tickets won't put a dent in your fun. Tickets are $5 per game that you attend or you can purchase a tournament pass that gets you into all games for $20! With deals like that, you have no excuse for not seeing as many games as you can, so come on down to the Hockey For All Centre and catch some of the best girls' hockey you'll see anywhere in Canada!

Five provinces will be represented by the 16 teams at this year's event. British Columbia boasts the Thompson-Okanagan Lakers, the Northern Capitals, and the Vancouver Island Seals. Alberta will have the Lloydminster PMW Steelers, the Rocky Mountain Raiders, and the South Alberta Hockey Academy trying to bring gold medals back to their province. Saskatchewan is represented by the Prince Albert Northern Bears as they send one team to Winnipeg. Ontario will have the Thunder Bay Queens competing for medals. The rest of the field is made up of Manitoba teams as the Winnipeg Avros, Winnipeg Ice, Yellowhead Chiefs, Rink Hockey Academy, Westman Wildcats, Eastman Selects, Pilot Mound Academy Buffaloes, and the host St. Mary's Academy Flames will look to break Manitoba's five-year gold medal drought. I'm already excited for these games!

I'm a little sad that the Calgary Fire won't be returning this season to defend their title after winning in overtime against SAHA last season, but South Alberta will be looking to upgrade their silver medals with their appearance this year. The 2022 winners in RHA Kelowna and the 2020 winners in Stanstead College also won't be attending, but the 2019 gold medallists in the Lloydminster PMW Steelers will look to stand atop the mountain at the end of the weekend once more.

As mentioned above, UMFM will be providing radio coverage of the tournament's games played on the PCL Arena ice, and you can listen to those broadcasts on the UMFM Second Stream, linked here and on the FWSSC website. It's a basic internet stream where we'll call games, so there are no downloads or plug-ins needed to listen. Just click the link, click play, and we'll take of the rest with the sounds of the game as we see it being played!

One thing we will do, though, is record each and every game we broadcast as we know these games often bring out the best in players. If you want a recording of any of the games, we can make that happen. Just contact me via email and let me know what audio you want. We'll prepare the .mp3 recording of the game and send it to you! Want that clip of a big goal, a timely save, or an overtime winner? We can make that happen!

All in all, I'm going to have to work on my "she shoots, she scores" calls once more as I'll be calling games for four days alongside some incredible people as Jason, Svenny, and Jenna have allsaid they're coming down to catch some hockey as well. With those three people along for the fun, we should have some incredible broadcasts of the exciting hockey that will be played at the 2024 Female World Sports School Challenge!

Here's hoping you'll join us for a game or two!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!