The Whitehorse Women’s Hockey Association’s (WWHA) 16th annual hockey jamboree ended with the Mean Girls winning the competition.
The team defeated 16 Candles team 2-0 in the final game to win the gold medal.
The tournament was organized by the hockey association and was held at the Canada Games Center Nov. 3 and 4.
More than 100 players took part with the tournament attracting players from communities around the Yukon, including Dawson City, Teslin and Haines Junction along with Whitehorse.
Mean Girls’ player Caytlynn Rotvik said the jamboree was fun and an amazing way to meet people and connect with the community.
“This was my first time playing in the jamboree and I feel like it was a good game,” she said. “We were pretty evenly matched. They kept us on our toes.”
Rotvik, who has been playing hockey since she was a kid, said she would like to see more people to attend future tournaments.
“There are so many people coming here from all over the place and I feel like if we can get more people that would be awesome because it will be a lot of fun,” she said.
WWHA events director Lorianne LeBlanc, who also played in the tournament, said her team had a little bit of a rough start and lost some games, but came back stronger and ended up doing very well in the end.
LeBlanc’s team, Dirty Dancing, won third place, beating team Clueless 6-3.
She said the jamboree was a really great event and thanked the volunteers who helped organize the competition.
“There are a lot of components in putting this together; from organizing the prizes, to booking the ice, creating the team, getting the jerseys ready and having a banquet tonight. I think it’s really worth it,” she said.
She said there is a growing interest in the jamboree, which grew from four teams in 2022 to eight teams this year.
“I’m hoping that it continues like this,” LeBlanc said. “It’s my first year on the board and I loved the team that I worked with and with all the interests and people that are involved, I think we can grow even more.”
LeBlanc said it’s nice for women and non-binary people to have a place to play hockey.
“Growing up, there weren’t too many options. So, it’s really great that the sport is growing in a competitive nature. We are really enjoying it.”
Association president Alex Bouchard said they are hoping to build the jamboree more and get people from Anchorage to “play the game we all love.”
She said the association spent hours preparing for the jamboree.
“It takes a long time to make sure that everybody that registered has a team, making sure that the teams are even and that the communication goes out and we get the ice booked and the schedule goes out,” she said.
The event ended with a party at Mount McIntyre Recreation Centre.
Contact Patrick Egwu at patrick.egwu@yukon-news.com