Committee recommends funding for street hockey festival

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on January 19, 2023.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

Lethbridge city council is being asked to provide a total of $200,000 from the Major Community Grant budget to support a mass street hockey festival to be staged here for the next four years.

The Economic Standing Policy Committee of Lethbridge city council voted to recommend council provide $50,000 annually for the next four years to the PlayOn! Canada street hockey festival, a national event staged in communities across Canada in partnership with several levels of government as well as Sportsnet and CBC Television networks.

A submission was made Wednesday afternoon to the Economic Standing Policy committee of Lethbridge city council by urban revitalization manager Andrew Malcolm.

The SPC consists of all members of city council and is chaired by mayor Blaine Hyggen. Vice-chair is councillor John Middleton-Hope.

Organizers of PlayOn! are planning 20 events this year as well as a national championship.

The national program is supposed to be announced Feb. 25 and organizers need a commitment from city council by Feb. 15. Council will address the matter again at its Feb. 7 meeting.

The report by Malcolm says City administration has reviewed the proposal and feels it is in line with the intent of CC55 Major Community Event Hosting Policy. It says the funding will “enhance the profile and visibility of Lethbridge, thereby contributing to the quality of life by assisting with funding to host mayor events.”

If approved, the event would get $50,000 annually for four years starting in 2023.

Scott Hill, of Play On!, speaking to the SPC remotely, said organizers expect they would get between 50 and 100 teams participating in the street hockey event, which is tentatively planned for streets around Galt Gardens.

Malcom, in response to a question from councillor John Middleton-Hope, said the preference for downtown streets over a parking lot such as at the Enmax Centre is to make it more appealing for interaction with city businesses while players and fans are downtown.

Hill said a mandate of the not-for-profit organization is to preserve the ethos of street hockey which is considered a different sport than ball hockey by Sport Canada.

Without City funding, he said there would be little chance Lethbridge would be considered as a festival site this year.

Susan Eymann, executive director of the Lethbridge Sport Council, told the SPC an unsuccessful effort was made in 2015 to bring the event here and that the idea of street hockey and three-on-three basketball have “quite an interest” in Lethbridge.

Hill said historically 50 per cent of participants have been non-skaters and 65 per cent are youth, some as young as eight or nine years old.

He called the Play On! event “recreational, spontaneous fun.”

Malcolm’s report says PlayOn! Events “are safe, affordable, inclusive and fun, addressing the shared and unique barriers to entry within the community.”

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