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Unique challenges in organizing a 158-team hockey tournament HOME IMPROVEMENTS By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF 27 · Wednesday, December 14, 2011 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com To Advertise in this section call Jessica Langero The schedule was set, the programs were on the way to printer and the last details were being sorted out when Dana Harvey received an e-mail. The coach of EVU, a Finnish bantam team, was looking at the tournament schedule online and noticed his team's name on the schedule was wrong. The name had been pulled from the team photo that the coach had provided. It turns out that the word preceding EVU was not part of the team's name -- it was the Finnish word for picture. Harvey contacted the printer and made the last-minute change, ensuring their Scandinavian visitors' name would be correct. As the co-chair for the 19th annual Richard Bell Memorial Tournament, it is just one of the hundreds of details that Harvey and an army of volunteers must deal with when organizing an event with 158 teams from six countries. Over the course of four days, from Dec. 27-30, there will be 369 hockey games played, using 17 sheets of ice and 560 hours of ice time. Over the years, tournament organizers have successfully dealt with potential problems ranging from an arena with a leaking roof to players' equipment not arriving with their flight. Just the task of scheduling all those games, ensuring teams have enough rest between games, divisions are matched evenly and teams are not playing opponents they see all the time in league play would be enough to make your head spin. Harvey and co-chair Ron Millichamp had already worked through five versions of the schedule when they received a call last week from a team backing out of the tournament. That necessitated a sixth version, the juggling of ice time, and phone calls to the town to trade off time that was no longer needed for one of the few open slots remaining. While the tournament as a whole continues to gain steam -- it will surpass last year's record of 142 teams -- certain divisions are becoming particularly popular. "The minor peewee division has been really strong the last few years," Harvey said. "We've become the go-to tournament for that age and we fill it quick." Millichamp said the Oakville Rangers' success has also become a selling point for the tournament. Last year alone, a dozen Minor Oaks Hockey Association teams won Ontario Minor Hockey Association championships. "When teams are looking for tournaments, they want to play the best," he said. "That makes our job a little easier." Harvey began contacting AAA teams in the summer. Having served as a team manager for her son's teams, she knew those teams began making tournament plans early. The tournament's success can also be measured by the number of teams that return every two years (being for the minor age group teams only, teams are not eligible every year). There will be a record 15 international teams this year -- seven from the United States, three from Norway, two each from Finland and Denmark and one from Sweden. That presents organizers with another challenge in that they must find 62 families to billet players during their stay. As of Tuesday, they had almost a full compliment, having already found 58. The tournament has almost reached its limit. Though there is enough ice time to stage a 200-team tournament, Millichamp said 170 is probably the upper limit for things to run smoothly. The organizers pride themselves on a tournament that runs on time and stretching beyond 170 would require the elimination of the buffer time between games. "The thought with growth is we want it to grow, but we want to keep the quality," Harvey said. "We don't want it to grow to the point that it starts getting sloppy." Quality remains important, not only in providing an enjoyable experience for the teams, but also in attracting sponsors. This year, Allstate All-Canadians has come on board as a presenting sponsor while Bauer Supreme, Bauer Vapor and Corbett's Source for Sports are division sponsors. Those supporters and many others who back the tournament allow the tournament organizers to offer free admission to games and for the first time this year, not charge their own teams entry fees. It also allows the tournament to give back to the community. It has entered into a five-year partnership with the Oakville Hospital Foundation that will see all net proceeds from the tournament go toward the new Oakville hospital. The tournament finals in all 15 divisions, from minor peewee to minor midget, will be played Dec. 29-30 at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. And when the final horn sounds, the process of planning for next year's tournament will begin. Added to the list of necessities for the 20th installment of the tournament -- a Finnish translator. 905-845-3824 ext. 284 jlangero@oakvillebeaver.com ALUMINUM E.K. Aluminum 416-275-2612 BASEMENT LEAKS Leaky k basements.ca 905-484-6242 www.leaky k basements.ca BASEMENT WATERPROOF ROWNSEAL Basement Waterproofing Inc. 905-564-3575 www.crownseal.ca CHIMNEYS A.M. Masonry 4 6-893-7354 41 COUNTERTOPS Counters 2 Go 1-855-454- TO T PS (8677) CONCRETE/INTERLOCK MC Concrete and Interlocking 905-878-8595 www.jmcconcreteandinterlocking. building.officelive.com CONSTRUCTION Dr. r Construction 905-484-6242 www.drconstruction.ca DECKS Alpine Deck 905-828-1320 www.alpinedeck.com Artistic Deck & Fence 905-844-4456 DECK WASHING/STAINING Sparklewash International 905-681-7688 www.sparklewashbytrefethen.com EAVESTROUGHS/ROOFING Roof Pro + 1-888-677-7757 ELECTRICAL D. Sayers Electric Inc. 905-257-3728 Furena Electric Ltd. 905-274-2363 Kata Electrical Contractors Inc. 905-257-8854 www.kat a aelectrical.ca FLOORING/RENO Wood N' Floor 905-338-1881 www.woodnfloor. r ca GARAGE DOORS B&M Garage Doors 905-569-9133 www.bmgaragedoor. r com GROUT Grout Expectations 905-257-0055 www.groutexpectations.ca HANDYMAN Handyman 905-510-0015 HOME IMPROVEMENTS Bosselle Contracting 905-845-4343 Canadian Home Pro 416-708-7269 Ceiling Restoration 905-541-5292 Clarke Renovation Services 905-465-5387 Eastlake Home Improvements 905-847-7054 Foras Group 905-208-1732 Great Lakes Siding 416-707-3187 Halton Home Improvements 416-543-2081 License to Art & Design Inc. 905-464-5129 P Jay Contracting P. 905-616-3150 Phoenix Renovat a ions 905-808-7820 Star Finish Carpentry 905-339-8248 Vanden Noort Home Improvements 905-842-2868 HOME RENOVATIONS Ruby Renovations 905-691-0124 www.rubyrenovations.com PAINTING Allen's & Sons Construction Ltd. 416-873-8857 Ely Building Contractors/Painters 416-399-6075 Halton Painting & Decorating 905-339-0952 Interr Can Painting Inc. 905-469-0092 Let's Remodel 905-208-8335 www.letsremodel.ca Paint All 905-822-9338 Richard Professional Painting 647-449-1775 Royal Decorating 905-827-5584 T ylor Contracting Ta 905-822-4685 PAVING C. Valley Paving 905-637-0155 ext. 301 REUPHOLSTERY Ray's Upholstery 416-318-3152 WINDOWS/EAVES Soften That Spot 905-338-8942 Ridge edges Abbey Park to move into first Connor Dale, Austin Baril and Cole Taylor each had a goal as the Iroquois Ridge Trailblazers edged Abbey Park 3-2 in Tuesday's Halton high school boys' hockey game. Justin Harrigan and David Watson scored for the Eagles. Iroquois Ridge improved to 4-1 and took over first place in the Richardson Division with the win while Abbey Park fell to 3-2. Abbey Park doubled up on Holy Trinity Friday, downing the Titans 4-2. Carson Barnes, Brian Champion, Andrew Barrons and Mark Kraft scored for the Eagles while Matt Capern and Evan Hudakoc replied for Holy Trinity. The Titans are 1-2 this season. See full Home Improvements section in The Oakville Beaver every Thursday