NEWS 

2002 MINOR PROVINCIALS

The OBHA Minor Provincial Championships: It’s all about the kids!
The Minor Provincial Championships held annually in the month of July has undoubtedly become the showcase event of the OBHA as over fifty of the finest kids clubs from tyke to bantam age players throughout Ontario participate in a weekend long festival of ball hockey. The 2002 tournament, hosted in the city of Mississauga, was no exception as the tradition continued.

Interestingly enough, the competition is often overshadowed by the fun and frivolity shared by teammates, their families and friends in attendance as the event unfolds. For instance, one of the highlights of the 2002 tournament was not so much who were the winners or losers, but more importantly, how one could one obtain a signature T shirts worn by the little guys from Beeton that asked the question, ‘Where is Beeton’? on the front of the garment, with a map pinpointing it’s location on the back.

Nonetheless, sport and competition go hand in hand, and the presentation of the individual medals, along with the championship banner and trophy to the divisional winners and the finalists has become an OBHA tournament tradition. Nonetheless, parody predominated the provincial championships this year as no less than 10 different centers challenged for the various divisional titles up for grabs.

It was the year of the Penetanguishene Blazers as the Midland association came away with a combined two gold and four silver medals in the championship rounds of play. They were followed closely by Oshawa who recorded five, while Vaughan and Chatham captured three ducats from the AA and A Championship Finals respectively.

The 2002 Minor Provincial Championship Results

Tyke AA	Belleville 3 Oshawa 2	A	Withrow Park 3 Penetang 1
Novice AA	Beeton 3 Belleville 1	A	Penetang 4 Oshawa 2
Atom AA	Vaughan 3 Penetang 2 (OT)	A	Oshawa 2 North York 0
Peewee AA	Vaughan 4 Chatham 3 (2OT)	A	Oshawa 5 Bradford 0
Girls U 18 AA	Chatham 2 Oshawa 1	A	Penetang I 5 Penetang II 2
Bantam AA	Chatham 3 Penetang (2 OT)	A	Vaughan 5 West End 1

Congratulations to all of the tournament administrators, officials, the teams and their coaches and players along with the throng of parents and fans in attendance that once again made the minors division of play and the minors provincial championship event a huge success.
In the A Division Championship, Mississauga, who barely missed the AA group of play by mere percentage points, proved to be too much for the rest of their competition. The western region representatives blanked both of their northern area opponents, defeating Maple 6-0 and Penetang 3-0 in the final to capture the consolation side of the event.

Congratulations to all of the administrators, officials, coaches, players and fans that participated in the tournament and helped to make the event a resounding success.