'We need more rinks': Indigenous hockey tournament to welcome 258 teams to Edmonton this weekend
More than 40 First Nations are hitting the ice this week for the 31st annual Native Hockey Alberta Provincial Championships.
Organizers say the tournament has grown so rapidly over the last few years that finding enough ice time for everyone has become a challenge.
Jessica Goodrunning is watching her two sons represent Sunchild First Nation.
"I looked forward to this tournament every year," she said. "It's exciting and I can only imagine how the kids feel."
"It's gotten really big over the past couple years. It definitely made me see how committed we are as indigenous people," Roddy Whitequills of Kainai First Nation said.
Eleven different rinks in Edmonton will host 258 teams from 45 First Nations over the course of the tournament.
"We need more rinks because we don't have enough," Clyde Goodswimmer, president of Native Hockey Alberta, told CTV News Edmonton. "The city can't supply enough to host all of us."
Goodswimmer says nobody was left out this year, but Sunday's slate of championship games will be taking place concurrently rather than staggered like previous years.
"We try to accommodate all the players and all the athletes," he said "I believe there's close to 4,000 or 5,000 coaches and players that are involved, so it's pretty massive."
Kenyin Bigchild from O’Chiese First Nation near Rocky Mountain House is in his 11th year playing in the tournament..
"When I was younger, it didn’t seem like such a big thing, but as I grew up and started noticing more, everybody comes from everywhere, there’s all age groups," he said. "There’s also lots of new Métis players, so we're getting more of those every year."
The tournament will play out through 630 games over four days, with the action concluding on Sunday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Loblaw leaders push back on 'misguided criticism' of grocer as boycott begins
Loblaw's new chief executive, as well as chairman Galen Weston, pushed back on what they called 'misguided criticism' of the grocer as a push to boycott the company gains steam online.
TD Bank hit with $9.2M penalty after failing to report suspicious transactions
Canada's financial intelligence agency says it has levied a $9.2-million penalty against The Toronto-Dominion Bank for non-compliance with money laundering and terrorist financing measures as the bank also faces compliance investigations in the U.S.
Orangutan observed treating wound using medicinal plant in world first
Scientists working in Indonesia have observed an orangutan intentionally treating a wound on their face with a medicinal plant, the first time this behavior has been documented.
This Canadian restaurant just lowered its prices. Here's how it did it
A Canadian restaurant lowered its prices this week, and though news of price tags dropping rather than climbing sounds unusual, the business strategy in this case is not, according to experts in the field.
There's a limit to how much interest rates in Canada and U.S. can diverge: Macklem
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says Canadian interest rates don't have to match U.S. or global rates, but there is a limit to how much they can diverge.
Prince William and Kate release photo of daughter Charlotte to mark ninth birthday
Prince William and his wife Kate released a picture of their daughter Charlotte to mark the princess's ninth birthday on Thursday.
Doctors concerned about potential spread of bird flu in Canada
H5N1 or avian flu has been detected at dozens of U.S. dairy farms and Canadian experts are urging surveillance on our side of the border too.
Airbnb's Icons allow you to drift off in the 'Up' house or rest in Prince's 'Purple Rain' mansion
The vacation destination rental company announced a new category of 'Icons,' a collection of 'extraordinary experiences hosted by the greatest names in music, film, television, art, sports, and more.'
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Goring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.